It is not easy to establish that an animal can understand the fact that another can have a distinct perspective. This ability, known as ‘theory of mind’, is known to exist in humans and also in birds of the family Corvidae, which contains birds such as crow, raven, and magpie. Establishing this becomes difficult as the animals in question are unable to express what they are thinking. A study published in the journal Animal Cognition studied pet dogs watching people who either saw a reward being hidden or who had to search for it without any information. They found that the dogs, by watching the people’s eyes, recognised that some observers were privy to information and that it paid to watch them.
