U.S. Native speaker here. My impression is that 'clever' is used just to mean 'smart' in the U.K. In the U.S. it means something more like 'ingenuis." It doesn't mean smart, it's more like applying one's intelligence to a specific situation or problem. So, you will often hear 'clever' used in relation to someone solving a problem, getting out of a difficult situation, etc.

maybe apply to KEA or ARA birds. Are they clever or smart? I wouldn't know, but they CAN do a lot after they researched a bit by experimenting how things work/react. The Dutch wiki describes them as "Deze nieuwsgierige vogel is een van de slimste en creatiefste papegaaien.". The English wiki says "Clever clown of the mountains" After seading a bit around, I would say "clever" has to do with IQ (and the corresponding IQ-test and IQ-quotient), so it has to do with "relative" smartness as compared to some other bird/person with same education/background. "clever" people don't seem to have to learn something, they simply "know" or "can find out" just by combining other things they know already, by deducation, by "unification"... So clever for sure implies "originality, creativity and ingenuity" "Oh, what clever! I would never have thought of solving the issue that way". Smart people still have to "learn", but they learn quickly. A smart person is practical and has common sense. But would probably always stay "between the lines" of what was learned. BB - Basler Biker

One more perspective from North America: Here, "clever" is often NEGATIVE. It is often opposed to "wise". If you are "clever," you can easily figure out HOW to do things, but don't care WHY you're doing them, or IF they are a good idea. You also probably don't care about the quality or beauty of your solution. Here are some examples I found: "you end up with a collection of clever tricks vs a simple and elegant solution" "he is not someone who simply comes up with a clever way of taking resources from other people" "A blame-the-victim approach that has been a very clever and sadly effective tactic" "you cherry picked a line, and reversed it because you think that makes you clever. *slow clap* Bravo sir, bravo. " "Another clever ad hominem attack."

In Canada, smart is more about the information/knowledge someone has whereas clever is the ability to creatively apply that knowledge.

I'm from the UK. They are largely the same here but smart would be a bit more informal. Smart can also be used to mean 'good' or 'impressive' here as well, e.g: 'Your new mobile phone is smart' - the phone is impressive