The term ’bird brain’ is often used to describe someone who acts foolishly or unintelligently, but most birds are incredibly smart - in particular the type of birds known collectively as corvids.

Ravens, jays and crows are all members of the corvidae family and they are, arguably, the smartest birds in the world.

Even though a corvid’s brain is much smaller than the brains of intelligent mammals, like primates, a density of neurons in the corvid’s forebrain gives them a well-developed cognitive function.

They also have a relatively large hippocampus which is the part of the brain that controls memory.

Corvids store food and so need the ability to remember were they placed their stash in order to be able to retrieve it at a later date.

Scientific experiments have demonstrated that corvids have the capacity to remember human faces, and to recognise themselves in mirrors - abilities that are rare in the animal world.

And so why are corvids so clever?

Natural selection has undoubtedly played its part, but another huge factor is that young corvids spend months, if not years, with their parents learning skills such as how to forage.

In this way they discover that if a snail’s shell is dropped from a height it cracks open (on the Isle of Man corvids can sometimes be seen doing this with sea shells); or if food is inaccessible twigs can be used to extend the reach of the bird’s beak.

Clever corvids were in the news last week, demonstrating that their intelligence can also help humans.

A theme park in France has trained six rooks to pick up pieces of litter, in particular cigarette butts, and to deposit them in a box which then delivers a nugget of food.

The park’s manager said that as well as being an effective way to remove litter the birds demonstrated that ’nature itself can teach us how to take care of the environment’.

The ManxSPCA’s aviary currently has nine young corvids in one of its pens.

When they are old enough the pen door will be opened to allow them to come and go as they please, and a ready supply of food will be left out for them as long as they need it.

Corvids are not everyone’s cup of tea, perhaps because most of them are jet black and associated with witchcraft and sorcery in blockbusters such as Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones.

They really are much misunderstood.

Ducklings, on the other hand, seem to appeal to everyone.

When we posted on Facebook in late June that we had been involved in rescuing four ducklings in Douglas, we received 173 comments and had 31,517 views.

The ducklings were orphaned because a car hit the mother duck as she was crossing a road. According to witnesses, the driver made no attempt to slow down and could easily have taken avoiding action.

Members of the public helped us to catch the frightened ducklings, who then spent five weeks in our aviary. Despite their ordeal they made a full recovery and last week we were able to release them onto a private estate, where they will be watched over.

There is a growing body of opinion on the island calling for there to be more sanctions when people deliberately run over wildlife on our roads.

If you suspect a wildlife crime has been committed or you are concerned about an activity you have witnessed, report this immediately to the police’s wildlife crime unit on 812234.