howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas
where we have LOTS of crows. I love having them around because
they eat all kinds of critters, bugs, worms, small reptiles, etc.
The other day when I did a post about the fire-starter birds of
Australia and learned how smart those guys were I started to
wonder how smart ARE birds anyway? Ya know, how smart can they
be?
This led me to discover something about crows which I think you may
not know but might find interesting.
First of all, crows are very social and work together on different
projects like gathering food and driving away predators. They're also
very good at warning each other of approaching danger and I've
witnessed this behavior in the crows we have here in Texas.
By the way, everything seems to be bigger here, the crows we have
here are huge, more the size of a hawk, they have to stand at least
15 inches tall.
There's a couple of experiments that demonstrate just how dog gone
smart these guys are. In one experiment they trained the birds to put
cards into a "vending machine" slot in order to get a piece of meat.
The cards were two different sizes, a small size gave a small piece and
a large card gave a larger piece. In that way the crows could choose
which size they wanted. Of course they learned real fast to put in the
larger size for the larger size meat.
Then the scientists took the cards away and put in a sheet of card-
board. Well you know what happened next. The crows used their
talons and beaks to rip off a size and shape matching the large card
that they were using to get the larger pieces of meat! lol.
source
In another experiment they presented the crows with a beaker of
water which was half full and had a worm floating on top. The water
level was too low for the crow to reach and the beaker was too
narrow for it to get down to the worm.
They had a selection of rocks, pieces of wood and other items laying
around the beaker. So you can guess what the crows did right? They
not only selected the items which would fit into the beaker but they
selected only the rocks because they knew the rocks would go to the
bottom and displace the water, thus raising the water level and the
worm high enough for them to eat the worm!
In the wild many crows have been observed using tools in the form of
sticks to get to worms or larvae located in holes found in logs. But it
gets better because they use sticks shaped like a hook in order to
grab hold of the food!
source
Another discovery researchers have observed is that crows will use
hooked sticks to connect objects like metal nuts. They hold the stick
in their beak, put it through the center of the nut and fly away with it.
Scientists say they are the only animal known to use a tool to haul
away an object in this manner but flying away with both objects.
But wait, here is the coolest story of all. There's an 8 year old girl in
Seattle, Washington who started feeding crows that were in the area
of the family's backyard, she would take little pieces of meat and leave
them for the crows. No big deal, lots of people feed birds right?
here she is, 8yr old Gabi Mann:
.jpg)
source
Anyone know what happened next? The crows started leaving gifts for
her! lol. I kid you not..they still do in fact. They leave coins, shiny
objects, glass beads, paperclips, earrings, they even left her a heart-
shaped pendant! Probably snatched if off another kid who wasn't
feeding them!
here's a small selection of what the crows have brought Gabi:
.jpg)
source
When the story came out researchers came calling to check it out
and they confirmed it was true. It was the first story of it's kind that
they knew of but as it got out on the news there were other people
who confirmed being left gifts after feeding crows.
here they are on Gabi's backyard birdbath:
source
ha! I love that but what do you call it? It sure ain't conditioning or
instinct. It's either a type of trading or of thankfulness!
Thankfulness??? Do birds have emotions? lol. I don't know.
Leaving gifts because of gratitude would mean they have morals!
Is that possible?
I don't want to upset anyone but when I was a kid and didn't know
any better I use to shoot them for target practice. Now that I know
how smart they are I feel bad. Now I have the uttmust respect for
them.
I'd love to hear any ideas any of you have on the questions I've
raised here, it's above my pay grade to understand these amazing
birds!
thanks for reading folks, God bless you all!
-jonboy Texas
the gentleman redneck
ps- ya know, you might just be a redneck if:
Your wife wants to stop at the gas station to see if they've got the
new Darrell Waltrip Budweiser wall clock!
This was an awesome article @janton, and a lovely story.
Gabby and her weird little "trade" she had going on with the crows...
Amazing, I know they like to "steal" shining things, but I did not know they traded shiny-objects for food like that, cats do similar things sometimes...
This is a very nice story indeed!
Thanks for sharing!
-Edit: -Im resteeming this one!
/FF
howdy there friendly-fenix! I'm so glad you liked that one, I was fascinated by it and thanks so much for resteeming!
No problems @janton, good article!!!
Also I have don't want to say too much, but I am working on a friendship with one of these birds, not exactly the same species, but a sub-species from the same family... This one comes in to my place sometimes and tries to "knick" shiny objects...
=)
/FF
really? how interesting friendly-fenix! that is super cool and what an amazing post or series of posts that would make, good for you!
Thank you @janton!
Well, lets hope the bird comes back...
=)
/FF
howdy this fine Wednesday evening friendly-fenix! yes perhaps it will be back bringing gifts!
The problem is that this bird has too much trash to eat, from the yard. There is this a dumpster-diver that comes every night going through the trash bins looking for god knows what, and he trows the trash all over the place, then the birds come and they pick up the left overs and poke holes in the trash bags... =(
Nothing wrong if you are poor and you have to look for things in the trash, but please put the damn trash back into the container... This infuriates me, I am getting old I think...
/FF
Hi@janton. I have seen this on a tv program and it is amazing what they are capable of. Another trick is the rubbish bins with black bin liners. They stand on the edge walking backwards forcing the bag of rubbish up to get to the food waste. Crows are very good talkers as well.
howdy sir cryptoandcoffee! oh that's very interesting I didn't know that one and I forgot how good of talkers they are, I haven't heard anything about that for years but that's very true, thank you!
Oh wow. Hey, thanks for this interesting info. Makes me think.......in a survival situation, spare a piece of meat each meal for the crows. They might bring you something useful!
haha! or you could get them used to coming to you and then whack them for their meat, the ones here would make a good meal!
Oh man crows are some of my favorite birds. My wife and I stumbled upon the story of the gift-giving crows and the 8 year girl awhile back and we were utterly fascinated by this concept. We planned to attract a few to our yard, but haven't started the process yet.
sir papacrusher! that's super cool. we have them all around us but whenever we step outside they're gone, they're extremely skiddish and don't get within 100 ft of us if that so at least out here I don't know how you would attract them except leaving food out but then the other birds that stay closer to the house would probably eat it.
it's a very cool thought though.
I downloaded a crow call app on my phone and researched buying crow decoys to bring them closer. I've had them respond to the calls, but my wife made me stop because she wasn't ready to start with feeding and a routine...lol
howdy papacrusher! hey bytheway, what does your username mean? as far as the crows, that is very interesting..so you guys could try this experiment at any time!
hey no one has answered my questions yet. why do you think the crows leave the gifts? is it gratefulness? that would mean they have a conscious though would it not? or are they trading but that would mean the same thing. right?
I think it is no different than learning to place cards in a machine to get treats. i think it may be learned behavior to get more food/treats. If they have learned that if they leave a gift they get food, it would fall within the lines of the other learned behavior they have exhibited in studies.
Here is an old post where I explained the origins of my user name: https://steemit.com/life/@papacrusher/steemit-name-challenge-papa-crusher Thanks for asking. In special meaning associated with your username?
papacrusher! you are so correct in the assertion of the crows behavior.
as far as my username, no I wish I would have thought up a clever one like so many on here or a cool sounding one like you have but I didn't even know if I was going to stay or work this steemit thing, it was so unlike me and I'd never been on a social media site before.
so mine is just the first initial of my first name and then my last name.
so I see it as j anton but everyone else sees it as janton! lol.
I read your post, I admire Hemingway a great deal also.
Another great post Cowboy! Yes, Crows are highly evolved beings IMHO. They can teach us quite a bit...much like dogs and all animals, really. It's up to us to pay attention ;) hehe <333 btw ~ so glad to hear you feel differently about using them for target practice. Much love as always!!!
reikigirl! of course I feel differently, that was the old me that used to enjoy killing but that was before I got saved. After that is was only to kill varmits that were destroying crop fields or bad snakes and such.
Crows are highly evolved? how do you figure that? also, I don't suppose you have any around there because wouldn't that be fun to build a relationship with them in your forest? I LOVE that idea! they would be bringing you all sorts of things!
I am still working on developing my relationship with Birds but I will keep you posted! :) <3333 So far my gifts have come in the form of different plants as they gift me seeds by their very presence which seems to be correlated with the work I have done in the forest so far...the population of birds has easily tripled since I began in 2014 and I haven't even come close to identifying them all. I have noticed that Robins, Sparrows & Grackles observe me the most & most closely though ;) I am in the process of earning their trust (all birds, not just crows). <333
This comment was made from https://ulogs.org
ok...alrighty then...... what in the world is a Grackle? hey wait, what about since 2014? you've been there for 4 years and you're just now starting to clean the junkyard up?
how could you stand living like a bum for 4 years?
were you in a drunken stupor the whole time?
LOL!!! Well, I am really not a big fan of alcohol, so that's a no hahaha but since you asked Cowboy....I started in the fall of 2014, and that's when I became aware of the level of rehabilitation the forest needed which was daunting but that wasn't my biggest problem or setback. You see, the neighbor out back with the chickens & rooster....we didn't used to get along so well back in the day. Let's just say she was hell bent on stealing the forest and not even treating it nicely! She really thought she was just gonna keep dumping shit (and I mean that quite literally as well as figuratively). On top of that, I didn't (and still don't yet) have enough financially to put up a fence, so contending with the daily dumpings from her donkeys, horses & multiple dogs (who would run freely through my forest and yard (she did try to use that as an intimidation tactic for a long period of time). I had alot to deal with. She used to also DRIVE through my yard (NOT A THROUGH WAY OR RIGHT OF WAY) which further complicated things. So in short, I was shoveling a shit tide and stuck patrolling my property (at the time with my trusty machete) to get the point across. It took a long while (and alot of my letting my Shadow side show itself!!) but things got better :) <333 and now I wouldn't say we are friends, but we are friendly, and the village knows that I am cool as fuck but not to be fucked with hahaha. So now, I am able to proceed <333 That's the short version LOL
This comment was made from https://ulogs.org
oh wow reikigirl..that has been quite a test for you, now I see why you didn't get much done since 2014.. that neighbor didn't want you to be foolin with that forest that she considered hers and has been using as a dumping ground for years, probably decades!
You really had to maintain your cool and walk in wisdom, I'm impressed!
Now she only lets chickens in your forest?
ya know this whole drama could have been some great posting material!
It was hard Cowboy..so hard! During it all, I wasn't so proud of myself to be honest. I really think I could have done better, but truthfully I did what was necessary. I am just thankful to be on the other side of that situation (which honestly I didn't think was ever going to end). I suppose it would have been great posting material, except that it was drama. I really don't like drama. I am kind of embarrassed that I had to let out so much heat to get my point across to her & her family. Yes, now it's just the chickens and I am even going to make a community garden on the edge of the forest in between her & I <333 but there's much work to accomplish before that actually takes shape. But I did make it a point to communicate to her during spring of my intention :)
I heard about the crows leaving gifts for the little girl. It's such a cool story. The crows here just steal cat food that we leave out and don't leave a dang thing. LoL
hahaha! those crows you have there aren't very grateful or generous! ha! well that girl spent years feeding them but the article didn't say how long it was before they started leaving gifts for her so maybe in time yours will if they know you are feeding them consistently.
An interesting post. Yes, I have come across some of the experiments on crows you mentioned. Totally, absolutely awesome. They are certainly smarter than we think, and a bit more. :-)
yes sir I agree but no one has answered my questions about them, maybe people are afraid to or they don't know. why are the crows doing the gift thing, do they have some kind of gratitude? and wouldn't that indicate that they have a conscious? or a moral obligation? lol.
They wouldn't know the answer to your questions for sure. Going by what you posted, it would appear that they do have qualities like showing gratitude and morals. That wouldn't be surprising at all would it? Surely, humans are not the only animals that have consciousness and can show moral obligations. In fact, some humans behave so poorly, they are no better than animals.
howdy today sir quotes-haven! I don't know if they have consiciousness but it appears that they do at least to some degree. It would be very surprising to me because I've never heard of such a thing with birds. with dogs yes of course but not birds, I thought it was all instinct with birds but you are SO right about humans. I hate that about us! lol.
thanks for the great comment sir quotesalot!
You are most welcome.
Crows have to be one of the smartest birds janton, we see them getting into lunch boxes to eat the leftovers at school. They appear to be clever problem solvers. Interesting post and your crows are indeed big in your neck of the woods in the Northern Hemisphere.
oh so you all have them down there too huh? they must be all over the world then. that's very interesting.
I will feed the birds in the winter, in the summer I'd rather they eat the bugs. I leave out peanuts for blue jays also. One year there was a blue jay just making a huge fuss out front. After a bit I thought something must be wrong. I went off the porch and the bird started flying down the way and would stop and continue to make a fuss, this kept up as I trailed the bird around the corner and found one of her babies had fallen out of it's nest. I tried to get the baby bird but it kept running, then the momma bird squawked away at it and it stood perfectly still while I picked it up. There was no way I could put the bird back in the nest so I took it to a wooded area about half a block away that ran along a highway with a fence lining it. I figured she could take care of it and defend it from predators and that being along the highway there may not be as many predators. Birds are a lot smarter then we give them credit for that's for sure.
wow! oh my gosh sunlit7 that is a great story! ha! you went to all that trouble but then obviously the mother Bluejay was wanting you to help her, that is totally amazing.
well I salute you for not only helping but for doing it in such a careful and caring manner, I suppose it turned out well, too bad there wasn't a way to keep track of them afterwards, great job though!
Thanks.
The dolphin of the sky.
hahaha! yes sir Oatmeal! that is a great comparison or analogy because the Dolphins are also tremendously intelligent and appear to care about humans, thank you!
Awesome.
In Slovakia there are so many crows! If I'm not mistaken they actually prefer to sit on a certain type of trees (Would have to check this out). We have a saying in Slovak that say that: A woman is like a crow. They like collecting shiny and glittery things too! :)
But they also like to 'steal' crops from fields. Farmers have battles with them every year :)
hahaha! that is a wonderful Slovak saying Martina, I like that and so true right? lol. do you know what the farmers can do to keep them from damaging their crops? I don't think Scare Crows really work.
so crows are world wide as I assumed.
but no one has answered my question yet, what do you think?..why do they give gifts? is it a trade or a sign of gratitude and if the latter is the case then that means they have a conscious!
As far as I know they use Scare Crows but they also go to their fields more often to scare them off. I think it's a trade off. They are 'paying' for the food :)
seems the birds are inteligent too, hope they won't organize for conquer the humans XD
I would love to adopt your crows!!! Hahaha they are so clever and very carfty too.. i mean look at all the collections they made.. im sure gabi was so deligthed every little thing that the crows bring her..
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Crows are neat birds.
I find crows really creepy @janton but I might have to reassess my opinion of them now since they are so clever. That's truly impressive.
And that taking of gifts to the little girl is just plain weird. 😁
hahaha! thank you gillianpearce for stopping by! well those gifts are weired or wonderful? I don't understand it. that's why I asked those questions but no one has answered me, I guess no one understands it!
hey if you think that is weird, my post from a few days ago about the firehawks of Australia really freaked out alot of people!
I guarantee that you've never heard of anything like it before:
https://steemit.com/animals/@janton/firehawks-the-crazy-fire-starters-of-australia
thank you so much gillianpearce, God bless you!
i'll take a look at the firehawks later. Thanks for the link @janton. 😊
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Nature is much smarter than we give her credit for. I love birds my favorite being Ravens. They are smart too. Sometimes I am lucky enough that they come and visit me and I will leave them with some of their favorite food, watermelon. No idea why since they eat dead animals but they always eat it. Anyways, great post! What's your favorite bird? And don't say bald eagle hahaha
howdy this fine Wednesday sir balticbadger! are you talking about the Ravens coming to visit you where you are now or when you were in the States? I'm assuming that they are everywhere.
of course my favorite is the Bald Eagle, next of course, if you've read my posts I'm always talking about and showing photos of our amazing Road Runners but you may have started reading since I've shown one of those last, I figure people will get tired of seeing them. lol.
So last night I read this and invited and returned it and fell asleep. This morning I read it again and just chuckle to myself saying "look at the bird" which is what all the tourist say when they get out of their car. I just finished my tacos and I'm sitting in the parking lot watching the crowd cousins the grackle eating bugs off the grills of cars as they arrive. Yes. Look at the birds, they are much smarter than we give them credit. Forget all that flying around let's just hang out in the parking lot and wait for the bugs to come to us, the stupid humans will bring em.
haha! yes sir it's like welfare, they just hang around and we give them stuff to live on. but down there it's sea gulls right?
Yeah, the rats with wings, turn your head for a minute and your sandwich will be gone seagulls. They are comical nonetheless.
We got a ton of grackles also. They are pretty damned funny too,always jumping around making noise or walking around with their heads held high like a stuck up snooty prince.
ahhaha! hey sposzone that sounds like great entertainment ya got goin there! I guess you used to have a lot of practice watching those crazy birds?
Yes, they are nice reminders that there is nothing to worry about.
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
spozone..exactly sir. well said and I couldn't agree with you more!
Fantastic contain it is. you done well on it.
Thank you so much for share with us.
We need another one to your next move.
Best of luck.
ahahha! thank you so much anon9 and I gotta go and check on your blog, thank you.
Welcome sir. today i am little sick.
thank you for your lovely comment back
i'm sorry to hear that you aren't feeling good, get well soon!
Thank you for understand sir
Greetings and good day janton. This is a cool post! Yes, I kinda know that this bird is smart. We have a lot of this bird here too. They are all over in the waterfront with the geese, but they keep their distance from each other.
I didn't know the story about the girl and the crow in Seattle until you mentioned it. And I find that interesting and cool, actually.
I think crows and other animals have emotions and for crows particularly they know how to form a bond to those who are kind to them. Sometime ago, I've read in some tabloid in the internet about how male crow goes into courtship with the female crow. It was a very interesting read because it mirrors somewhat to this story of this girl in Seattle. It said that when a male crow's attracted, he'll follow the female and stay close to her to find out where she lives and what she likes. Then he begins by building her a nice nest using twigs and stuff everyday until he finishes it. To make the story short, towards the end he gave her a heart pendant necklace and he placed it in the middle of the house or nest that he built for her. See crow birds are romantic too.
And another thing, these birds if you are mean to them they remember faces and won't forget. So, you might want to duck when you see one and not be near it, lol. It might scratch your face. lol
haha! crows are romantic too.. wow that's news to me but maybe it's true. well having emotions would explain giving gifts to that little girl.
what par of the country did you say you were?
Hi janton, how are you this fine lovely afternoon? How's your weather there now? Still very hot? Here is 70F mostly cloudy, looking at my window i think it's a real nice day. I'll be doing my walk later.
You didn't know that animals have emotions? Of course they do, lol.
Oh, I didn't get to tell you where am from...? thought I did, didn't I? Btw, is what I'm from important...? ha ha ha
howdy again roger5120! 70 degrees where you're at? so you gotta be North for it to be that mild.
well, I knew that animals have fear if that's an emotion. I'm talking about birds though, I know dogs have emotions. I'm just talking about birds.
yes where you're from is very important. I can understand things about you better. your history, ancestry and general traits. don't you think it's important?
Good morning janton. Hope you're doing good this lovely morning and stay cool cause it's hot in there. In the NW weather has been good for a couple of weeks now, it's 59F right now.
ha, i think animals have emotions to include birds. The birds twits when they're happy. They kick or paddle their feet when they're swimming. I'm sure they have feelings, lol. How can they multiply if they don't have feelings?
I see. hmmm... all that? well, in that sense I guess you're right. But you know, I think I'm an open book, but private in many ways. Ha, If you know what I mean.
howdy again roger5120! so you are an open book until I ask you a personal question? lol.
lol...yeah, i know right? Because when somebody ask me they never say origin, but what made you ask that anyway?
Having crows around means bad omen right?
Historically, it has. Yes.
sir mepatriot..how did that get started, do you know? seems right, I just can't remember.
Just another example of God's handiwork! Cool post, thanks for sharing!
howdy there this fine Wednesday evening sir simms50! yes sir it sure is and it's my pleasure.
Yes, I have seen videos of those experiments with crows. They are definitely smart creatures. I observe them in my backyard, especially their "family" relationships and little tiffs between them when it comes to eating. I have been feeding them over last two or three years, but this year have not done. I found they sometimes perched on the back of the chair I sit on in the backyard and were leaving their droppings behind on the back of my chair. So I stopped feeding them. I do find them fascinating birds though. They sometimes used to sit in the backyard, and just look at me for long periods. They would twist their head sideways and just look at me for the longest time.
Great article, Jon!
I still hate them though. They do nothing positive here except wake us up by sitting in the tree outside our window and screeching to beat the band, starting at 5AM every morning. (Or, they would have, if they hadn't LEARNED very quickly that is not a safe place to be....lol...)
I like my worms for fishing, and we have plenty of other birds to deal with bugs.
Do they eat scorpions? If I were in your shoes, and they did, I might respect them more...
hahaha! 5 AM wow. well they USED to be an early alarm clock. yeah they are so dang loud and obnoxious! I assume they eat scorpions too.
Yeah...they love to hang in packs of dozens around here and take over whole neighborhoods where there is no resistance (if you know what I mean...)
howdy sir mepatriot! hahaha so they take over the whole neighborhood except your place right?
Well, let's say there is also a healthy perimeter...lol...
My fathers friend had a crow and used to bring him to school on his shoulder and deed it. When the boy went to school he used to fly up to an electrical wire and wait for him to finish. Another strange fact is they never forget a face . Read this article. Ive seen the show. It was awesome
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/science/26crow.html
haha! man that is great blanchy, shockingly smart but with amazing memories too! geez, thanks for that article!
Birds with amazing memories ! Are you still talking about the feathered kind @janton?? 😜
yes sir blanchy why? what does the word "birds" mean in Ireland except the flying kind?
The female kind 😂😂😂😂
sir blanchy! in Ireland "birds" means females? wow ok I got it!
😂😂 yeah to teenagers. A fit bird would be a good looking woman.
The Corvids are indeed very clever, i've even heard that their intelligence can be equal to that of a child?
Trial and error or calculated thoughts? Whatever their methods, they demonstrate a great ability.. I had a parrot once and he was very intelligent...
Animals are great....
sir preppervetuk... I read in one of the research articles that their ability in the water displacement experiment to get to the worm that their intelligence was of a 7 year old child. so that's pretty amazing.
I've heard that parrots have the intelligence of a 3 yr old child but I don't know if that is accurate, a parrot owner told me that.
Dear janton I am so afraid off the black rascals. We have them alot here but they give me the creeps. Just looking at the picture I got scared 😬😬
oh no! I've never had anyone scared of my posts before! sorry about that, I don't think I'll be doing anymore of these. Many people think they are bad luck or evil, is that your impression?
No but they ate so focussed on food that they ate always near the bins and they make alot off noise just dont like them.
howdy this fine Thursday brittandjosie! Oh I understand, well the ARE about the loudest, most obnoxious birds ever! I agree.
And they just dont look friendly🤨
crows always get bad press , but it shows there not that bad x
winchestergirl! well it shows that they CAN be good but they also never forget a humans face and it you make them mad they will harass you forever!
ha ha yes your right , that's we have to be nice to animals : )
They are my favorite birds! I love watching them. I think they're so clever. I wish we had ravens here but we don't. You have to go further north to see them But I'm happy to have crows!
oh I didn't know that there was a significant difference between Ravens and Crows.
It's been a busy week, I'm behind on everything.
lol "everything is bigger in Texas"
Reminds me of a joke I heard a long time ago.
An Alabamy redneck has finally made his first trip to the great state of Texas and is stayin at a pruty big HO-JO
Well, he decides to go to the restaurant, and orders a steak and tater. The waitress comes out with two plates, one with a steak on it that looked more like half a side of beef, and a tater durn near the size of a football. The redneck looked up and said "durn" She just smiled and said "everythings bigger in Texas"
That Alabamy redneck put a hurt'n on that steak and tater and was powerful thirsty, so's he ordered him a beer. Well that waitress came walk'n out with a mug of beer that look more like a gallon jug, and she just smiled and said "everythings bigger in Texas"
Well now after that gallon o'beer the Alabamy redneck needed to visit the facilities and releave himself. The sweet waitress pointed him down the hall and to the left, but our friend being rather snokered went right instead. Then you heard a big splash....
He had landed right smake dab in the HO-JO pool,
An everytime he'd make it to the surface fur air he's a holler'n
"don't flush it, don't flush it"
Cause everything's bigger in Texas....
hahhaha! that's retarded! I love it.
I thought you might,
lol, sorry for late replies, didn't get anything done on here yesterday, too much work to do.
Absolutely wonderful read, @janton! That was the first I have heard about Gabi and her mercantile exchange.
I know a few people who would not have figured out the worm-getting process!
They are really smart birds and it bothers me that people don't give them any credit for being intelligent. That shows which side the smarts are really on!
lol. yes sir willymac it does make you question the intelligence of humans not to mention their lack of character so much of the time. thanks for your great comments sir!
I saw a science program about a Univ in Washington State that did a study of crows where one group of people wore masks and dressed the same and were slightly aggressive to crows, shooing them away and such. The crows learned that they were "bad" people and spread the word among crow friends and all began to caw in warning when the people in the test group passed by, even though they had never been aggressive outside the test area.
After months of that, the people stopped wearing the masks and dressed differently, and the crows still sent warning calls that they were coming! The crows had identified them by other visual signals like walking, size, sex, etc.
Smart little guys! Good at identifying undesirables, too!
ha! yes sir willymac I was reading some articles like that and couldn't hardly believe it! I mean that's much better than humans could do isn't it? and to spread the "word" about the undesirable humans is amazing!
and here I thought they were just a bunch of loud-mouthed, obnoxious birds!
Yeah, humans have always assumed that we are smart and nothing else on the planet has any feelings or intellect. We treat animals so badly and the average person seems to remain ignorant on that subject.
One of my main sore spots that has been with me a long time.
I wonder what the crows' collective opinion of us would be? Probably not very flattering.
haha! the Crow's collective opinion of us..that's a good question but you;re right I don't think we want to know the answer to that!
yes sir like dogs, idiotic people treat dogs like they don't have brains or emotions! total ignorance.
I have a real short fuse when I see someone mistreat an animal. Especially a dog, and more especially, a small dog. Just can't put up with it.
I love this story @janton! Brian and I have a thing for crows and ravens and find them very impressive. Did you know they mate for life, and hold funerals too. They are such social birds and so so smart. I watched one get hit by a car in a busy city intersection, and the howling mate beside the dead bird would NOT move. Seriously, stopped traffic for a bit. But I will never forget the forlorn pain in that bird's cry!
oh my gosh I've never heard anything like that! that's so sad..and they hold funerals? come on! how do they do that?
True! Another time, Brian picked a dead one off the street who'd been hit by a car, while its mate cried on the sidelines. He picked it up and put it on the grassy side of the highway and within seconds, about 30+ birds were at it's side, cawwwing away. I also witnessed a good Samaritan pick up a wounded baby, and put it in his truck to presumably take for help, and the mother followed him the entire time, swooping and cawwing at his vehicle. At a stop light I got out and ran to the driver's side window to tell him what I'd been witnessing, so he let the baby out and the mom and several other crows were suddenly by the baby's side! They are really amazing!!
There's also a lot written on their ability to remember human faces .. for years! It explains them leaving gifts for this little girl I think!
howdy again lynncoyle1! oh my, that is totally amazing. And yes someone sent me a research article about them remembering human faces and not just the one's who had contact with humans but all of them would harass a worker who had captured and tagged just a few of them! lol. we need to study them more I think. thanks so much for the information, wow!
oh yeah, they really are amazing, and so very intelligent!
If you do some research, see if you can find anything on their daily migration patterns in Vancouver, BC. The sky darkens at the same time daily when hundreds of them fly from one area to another. It's the strangest thing!!
really? I had no idea and had no idea that you could look up their daily migration patterns. I hope hunters don't use that. alot of people think they are evil and are afraid of them.