THOSE DREADFUL CROWS.... !!!!
Being a birdwatcher, I have always had a fascination with crows. They may seem to be plain, ordinary, large black birds to the casual observer. But if you ever find yourself near one, chances are they are watching you... very closely!~
http://www.cracked.com/article_19042_6-terrifying-ways-crows-are-way-smarter-than-you-think.html
Some of what you will read in the Cracked.com article is true. If you have time to watch the full "Nature" episode, "A Murder of Crows", it is pretty fascinating. Check out the part where the crow is actually using tools. Amazingly smart, these "bird brains" are!
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/a-murder-of-crows/full-episode/5977/
This website from Davidson University has some good information as well:
http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/vecase/behavior/Spring2007/Burke/index.html
5 Comments:
A friend of mine had an interesting encounter with a crow. He was sitting in his car, eating, at a popular lookout point. There were a lot of people and their dogs, lots of gulls and crows all milling around, etc. This one particular crow sat on the ground, a few feet away from my friend's car and locked eyes with him. He was totally uninterested in any of the other crows or anybody else. They both just stared at each other for a few minutes.
Then, for seemingly no reason, the crow flew away. And instantly, every other crow took off and formed a perfect formation behind him. Apparently he was the leader of the flock (or "murder").
Whoa, that's pretty cool! They do seem to have quite the capacity for community... In the PBS program, there is a spot where they talk about "crow funerals"... here is an example of this:
http://www.oddee.com/contrib_10091.aspx
I love birds of all kinds, parrots and crows in particular. We have four parrots in the house (two macaws and two 'toos) and lots of bird feeders out back to watch. I always love it when crows come to our bird feeder; they don't seem to want the food, they seem to want the company!
They're particularly intelligent, and seem to have joy in their lives.
I always enjoyed watching the crows and listening to them as the "spoke" to one another in my mom's neighborhood in Port Hueneme, CA.
I'm going to keep an eye out for the crow show on PBS :-)
Carlos: Small world. I was stationed in Port Hueneme from 1969-72. I was on the one ship that was docked at the Seabee base. (USS Norton Sound.) It was transferred to the east coast and then decommissioned a long time ago.
Post a Comment
<< Home