Crow shows she's no bird-brain

CNN ^ | 8/9/02

[Mr. Mojo]

OXFORD, England -- Oxford scientists have discovered that a crow called Betty is no bird-brain.

Betty astonished scientists by deliberately bending a straight wire into a hook and using it to extract food from a container, the journal Science said on Friday.

[SSN558]

How about the crows that take walnuts up in the air and dive bomb them on hard pavement to get the goodies inside ? Might have figured they were smarter than chickens.

[crz]

Its like this...count all the votes that count. At least the crow knows how to count I bet!

[aristeides]

Why are crows so suspicious of people? When I say hello to one, it looks at me suspiciously and then flies away.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Why are crows so suspicious of people? When I say hello to one, it looks at me suspiciously and then flies away.

Crows have excellent senses. Maybe they can smell you.

[mamelukesabre]

Do you realize how many crow generations people have been slaughtering crows just because they are crows? I think it will be a long time before crows are no longer scared of people. The most common human opinion of crows is that they are rodents with wings...vermin that need to be exterminated.

[MissAmericanPie]

Betty for Democratic Presidential hopeful? They have more hope of getting her elected than Gore. G. groper, O. of, R. redoaks, and E. evergreens.

[mamelukesabre]

There have been reports of crows in the wild doing lots of things that indicate a higher form of intelligence.

Some that I can remember:

Crows have been seen sliding down snow banks on their backs just for fun...and doing it repeatedly.

Crows have been seen leading wolves to sick or injured animals so that the wolves will kill it, tear it open, and the crows will get the leftovers.

young adult, or "teenage" crows have been seen in packs or gangs that go off on rampages, doing all sorts of mischeivous things to impress each other and gain status within their "gang". Often times these "daredevil" antics involve taunting larger, more powerful bird species, like eagles. It seems the youngsters are adrenaline junkies that "get off" by tempting fate. Sometimes they go too far and get killed.

I once read about a crow that a demolition crew had contact with. I don't remember what the crew was doing exactly, but they were setting off explosives repeatedly for weeks. Everytime they set one off, the guys would yell "3, 2, 1, kaboom" and then set it off. Well, according to these workers, a crow in the area started mimicking them, and was flying around the work site shreiking "3,2,1, kaboom" over and over for days.

[D-fendr]

Very interesting, thanks.

I remember another: When I was very young an old woodsman told me that when you hear a bunch of crows making a racket around a tree, there's a good chance there's an owl in there.

Owls are crow's enemies, and owls sleep during the day, hunt at night. The old man said crows will keep the offending owl awake during the day so he will be tired that night.

Trivia question: What's the proper term for a group or flock of crows?

[mamelukesabre]

" a mob" I think.

magpies are interesting too, they are related to crows, as are ravens and jays.

In parts of europe, crow's plumage is colored similar to the magpies here in the western US, but instead of black and white it is black and grey. THey also have another species called a "rook", that is similar to crows and closely related.

[D-fendr]

Rooks I haven't heard of. Magpies I remember from the cartoon "Heckle and Jeckle".

And, it's called a "murder of crows". Honestly – but I don't know why, would be interesting maybe to find out.

[Sunsong]

Very cool :-)

[demkicker]

Here's the video

[rmmcdaniell]

I remember another: When I was very young an old woodsman told me that when you hear a bunch of crows making a racket around a tree, there's a good chance there's an owl in there.

Owls are crow's enemies, and owls sleep during the day, hunt at night. The old man said crows will keep the offending owl awake during the day so he will be tired that night.

2 summers ago I was on my back porch and saw a Bald Eagle land on the ground. As soon as it landed I heard this enormous noise coming from a nearby tree. Seconds later a flock of about 30 crows left the tree and swarmed the Eagle, forcing it to fly away. Amazing sight.

[Bullish]

Heck, my cat can open a can of cat food.

Er, well that's me.... But she makes me do it.

[Bullish]

I don't believe it. Seriously, I really don't believe it.

Seriously, I do. Birds like the crow are incredibly smart.

[Bullish]

Wow! She's already shown that she's smarter than Gore.

A new talking point is born.

Is he smarter than a crow?

[Movemout]

"Not even chimpanzees, our closest cousins, have this ability. "

This statement is untrue. There is ample evidence that simians have used twigs to get access to anthills and their contents. Additional tests in labs have shown that chimps can think their way through problems, for example moving chairs or piling up items in order to reach fruit placed out of their reach.

I have been observing crow behavior for at least four decades. They are much smarter than people give them credit for. I can tell you some interesting crow stories but I won't bore you.

[Bigg Red]

Is he smarter than a crow?

We already know he's for the birds.

[Mr. Mojo]

I can tell you some interesting crow stories but I won't bore you.

I'd like to hear those stories (or at least one or two of the most interesting ones). Rememeber, I posted this thread, so obviously this sort of thing interests me.

[Movemout]

Okay, I'll tell you one. I am convinced that crows are able to communicate with one another. I visit a cabin up in WV and some years back when I was trigger happy I used to shoot at crows passing overhead. I did this until they stopped. For years they stopped flying over the cabin as if they had a map marked "here there be danger". I have a little spread here in VA. I shot a crow in my garden, they are devilishly hard to sneak up on, and hung it from a nearby oak tree. The crows raised holy cain for weeks after that. It was two years before I saw a crow in my garden again. I am totally convinced they communicate with one another.