Raven Intelligence Quiz: Puzzle Solving and Planning
Ravens can plan for the future, a skill once thought to belong only to humans and great apes, and this raven intelligence quiz looks at the experiments that showed it. Play 10 interactive questions on string-pulling puzzles, hidden food caches, bartering tokens, mimicry, Odin's ravens Huginn and Muninn and the ravens of the Tower of London.
Start Raven Intelligence Quiz
🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds
Species
What is the scientific name of the common raven?
Plan
What did a 2017 study in Sweden show ravens could do?
Barter
What else did the ravens in that study manage?
String
What did Bernd Heinrich's string-pulling test reveal?
Caching
What do ravens often do if another raven watches them hide food?
Mimicry
Which sounds can ravens imitate?
Size
What record does the common raven hold among songbirds?
Odin
What were the names of Odin's ravens in Norse myth?
Tower
What legend surrounds the ravens at the Tower of London?
Play
Which playful behavior have ravens been seen doing?
Your score
0/10
Scroll down to see the explanation for each question.
Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions
- Q1: What is the scientific name of the common raven?
Answer: Corvus corax
Ravens belong to the crow family, the corvids.
- Q2: What did a 2017 study in Sweden show ravens could do?
Answer: Choose a tool for a task many hours later
Ravens kept a useful tool for a puzzle box they would see the next day.
- Q3: What else did the ravens in that study manage?
Answer: Save tokens to trade for food later
They passed up small rewards for a better trade later.
- Q4: What did Bernd Heinrich's string-pulling test reveal?
Answer: Ravens could pull up hanging meat step by step without trial and error
Some birds solved it on their first attempt.
- Q5: What do ravens often do if another raven watches them hide food?
Answer: Move the food to a new hiding place
They seem to consider what others know.
- Q6: Which sounds can ravens imitate?
Answer: Other birds and even human speech
Captive ravens can learn words.
- Q7: What record does the common raven hold among songbirds?
Answer: It is one of the largest
Ravens are giant members of the passerine order.
- Q8: What were the names of Odin's ravens in Norse myth?
Answer: Huginn and Muninn
Their names mean thought and memory.
- Q9: What legend surrounds the ravens at the Tower of London?
Answer: If they leave, the kingdom will fall
At least six ravens are kept there.
- Q10: Which playful behavior have ravens been seen doing?
Answer: Sliding down snowy roofs
Play suggests flexible, curious minds.
Raven Intelligence Quiz – How Clever Are Ravens?
The common raven, Corvus corax, is one of the largest songbirds and one of the most intelligent birds. Biologist Bernd Heinrich showed some ravens could pull up meat hanging on a string on their first try, suggesting insight rather than trial and error.
In a 2017 study in Sweden, ravens chose a tool for a puzzle box they would face many hours later and saved tokens to trade for better food, showing planning skills once linked mainly to humans and apes. Ravens also move hidden food if another raven watched them hide it.
Ravens can mimic sounds, including human speech, and play by sliding on snow. In myth, Odin's ravens Huginn and Muninn stand for thought and memory, and the Tower of London keeps at least six ravens because of a legend.
What This Quiz Teaches
Bird lovers and psychology fans will enjoy these questions.
- What ravens can plan
- How puzzles test them
- How they guard food
- What sounds they copy
- Which legends feature them
Did You Know?
- Ravens can live over 20 years in the wild.
- They often pair for life.
- Ravens follow wolves to share carcasses.
- Their calls include deep croaks and knocks.
- Ravens recognize individual human faces.
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