Crows: Avian Intellectual Giants

[Shrike]

I saw this recently and thought it was fascinating:

[YOUTUBE]c0CXSVrIt5w[/YOUTUBE]

It's intriguing to think about how certain animals perceive the world around them and communicate with one another.

 

[bugmankeith]

Crows are smart like parrots, I saw a show where a crow was taught to open a lock with a key, they sometimes use tools in the wild to get food, like dropping nuts in a street so cars run over them, and sticks to dislodge food in trees or bird feeders. Crows can learn to talk and mimic sounds too !

 

[Galapoheros]

I remember watching that on TV, pretty amazing. I saw something about Ravens too, they seem even a little "smarter" than crows. One wanted something in a bottle but it couldn't get to it. It bent a piece of wire and made a hook and fished it out.

 

[The Snark]

When emulating noises, if the sound is complex, two or even more crows will produce a part of the sound, chaining the sounds together to make the entire thing. BTW, isn't it the entire crow tribe that has this intellectual capacity?

 

[Hobo]

[youtube]y_8hPcnGeCI[/youtube]

 

[MarkmD]

Crows and ravens are smart, they learn of another when food it around plus they eat many things, a sort of communication, not an expert but have watched many of them around my area.

 

[RzezniksRunAway]

Their facial recognition ability makes me not screw with any of them, ever. My mom used to tell me how crows could remember faces, which is why she always wore a ski mask while trying to find a baby crow. She's been obsessed with having one as a pet for as long as I can remember, but it's never happened. She'd wear the ski mask so the mother wouldn't come "stalk" her after she took the baby. I always thought she was just completely insane until I saw the mask study.

This video is amazing. 007 completing a series of puzzles in the correct order.
[video]www.youtube.com/embed/AVaITA7eBZE[/video]

 

[The Snark]

Magpies have been in use for years as door wardens. From a quick glance at the bird cage to tell you in the person knocking on the door is a friend that has been introduced to the bird or a stranger, to gate latch releases connected to the bird's perch. When the bird sees a visitor it knows it jumps down to that perch which releases the latch.

 

[RzezniksRunAway]

I bet I'm allergic to magpies, but that sounds amazing. There are very few birds who don't trigger me.

 

[catfishrod69]

I dont think they make those.

trying to find a baby crow.

 

[RzezniksRunAway]

I dont think they make those.

Haha,what? Do they hatch out fully grown? That would be creepy alien...stuff.

 

[catfishrod69]

Yep im pretty sure they go from embryo to fully grown inside the egg . I live in the heart of crow country, and have never once seen a baby.

 

[RzezniksRunAway]

Which is probably why my mom never found one. Her in all black with a ski mask on, climbing trees like a ninja in search of a baby crow is one of my earliest memories...shes too old for it now, but shes just as weird.
Spiders were never killed because of thier supposed ability to telepathically communicate after death.

 

[lizardminion]

I wonder what they could achieve if they were ever taught to read and use Google. Probably lots.

 

[Hobo]

They hatch out as babies, not fully grown.

I've seen these guys play with rocks when I was in college. They'll fly em up high, let them go, and try to catch them before they hit the ground.

At first I thought they were cracking nuts like in that documentary, but when I went to see when it fell, they were always rocks.
I also enjoy seeing their mobbing behavior, whenever there's a bird of prey around.

 

[catfishrod69]

Yeah i know they do, i was just joking . I have never ever seen a baby or a nest, or even a half grown one.

They hatch out as babies, not fully grown.

 

[jbm150]

It's not a crow or raven but we have a hawk where I work that will pick up bread from the neighboring restaurant and put it on the railings back behind our building. When the doves come to eat, so does the hawk! Amazing

 

[Shrike]

It's not a crow or raven but we have a hawk where I work that will pick up bread from the neighboring restaurant and put it on the railings back behind our building. When the doves come to eat, so does the hawk! Amazing

Out of curiosity, what kind of hawk is it?