American Crow
The American Crow has been amazingly successful at adapting to human encroachment of their habitat, even taking advantage of humans to expand its own range. This is due in part to its generalist diet and habitat requirements, and partly to its social nature, but most of all to its extraordinary intelligence. Crows are some of the smartest creatures on earth, and have been observed making and using tools, a unique behavior among birds. They use tools to carry heavy objects, find food, and even as weapons against predators! Combined with high sociability and cooperation, their problem-solving skills have suited them ideally to a relationship with humans. In addition to being highly intelligent, Crows are also extraordinarily long-lived: while individuals in the wild generally live ten to fifteen years, a captive American Crow in New York lived to be 59 years old!
