Corvids

How is it that crows got such a bad rap? Yes, there’s the small matter of West Nile and dead crows being the harbinger of death. Then there’s also that Hitchcock fellow who took the meaning of a “murder of crows” literally. And why as we age, can’t we embrace and celebrate the inevitable lines on our face instead of giving them the derogatory name of “crow’s feet”.

While many of us may fear or loathe crows and their corvid cousins (ravens, magpies and jays), there are probably many more of us who are fascinated with these highly social animals. It’s a fascination that shows up, not only in our backyards, but also in our myths, songs and dreams. Bring up the subject of crows and like dogs and bears, most people have a crow story.

Ideas producer, Yvonne Gall takes us on a close encounter of the corvid kind and examines whether crows are pests in need of eradication or are simply misunderstood.

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Vulcan59 said:

Hi treesparrow,

Is the photo below, the one you were trying to link to?

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Nienna Eluch said:

This picture reminds me of a book I read a long time ago about a person trying to come to grips with nature It was a comic look at nature. In it he stated that from observing crows he had come to the conclusion that out of all the birds he had observed, he felt that the corw would be a candidate for breaking into a person's house, wreck the place and pistol-whip the occupants and then eat all of the food before leaving. ;D

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Study finds crows can distinguish symbols representing quantities

MAEBASHI (Kyodo) -- A team of researchers said Monday they have found crows can recognize symbols representing different quantities, successfully selecting containers holding hidden food items in experiments when given a choice based only on symbols.

The research by Shoei Sugita, professor of animal morphology at Utsunomiya University, and others has confirmed for the first time in the world crows can distinguish quantities of items, suggesting the birds have the same numerical cognition ability as human beings.

The outcome of the tests involving eight jungle crows was published in the October issue of Animal Behavior, an international journal.

In the experiments, the researchers prepared two containers in a cage, showing the eight crows two sets of quantity symbols on their lids.

The jungle crows were initially presented with the choice between two and five, with only the container bearing the five symbols containing food. The crows were trained to get the food at a 70 percent success rate.

The crows later received tests for non-numerical clues such as element configuration, shape, total filled area and novel sets of quantity involving choices with figures ranging from two to eight.

The eight crows had a 70 to 90 percent success rate choosing the container holding food for 19 of the 20 choices with which they were presented.

Sugita and other researchers have also discovered that crows can distinguish between men's and women's faces, with the research results made public last year. "We want to reveal more about the unknown intelligence of crows," the professor said.

(Mainichi Japan) October 3, 2011

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Definitely not bird brains! Ravens are the only species other than apes who can 'point' and share objects like humans

Ravens ‘point to’ objects to attract each other’s attention in a similar way to humans, research has discovered.
Until now, it was thought the only animals which communicate this way were apes.
But a study by German and Austrian experts revealed ravens to be far more intelligent than previously thought.

Clever: A raven on Uist in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. the birds have been observed to use objects to point and share, like humans do


They observed wild ravens using their beaks to show and offer each other objects such as moss, stones and twigs.
The birds, which belong to the corvid family with crows and magpies, made signals using their beaks as if they were hands. The experts likened this to the way very young children point and hold up objects as a way of saying ‘look here’ or ‘take this’.
The gestures were mainly between ravens of the opposite sex and helped them become closer. The ravens that attracted a potential mate using them often ended up ‘sharing’ the object with their friend.
The study’s author, Dr Simone Pika, of the Max Planck Institute in Berlin, said it was the first evidence ravens use gestures ‘to test the interest of a potential partner or to strengthen an already existing bond’.

Dr Pika added: 'These results provide the first evidence that ravens also use so called deictic gestures in order to test the interest of a potential partner or to strengthen an already existing bond.
'We observed that ravens use their beaks similar to hands to show and offer objects such as moss, stones and twigs.
'These distinct gestures were predominantly aimed at partners of the opposite sex and resulted in frequent orientation of recipients to the object and the signallers.
'Subsequently, the ravens interacted with each other, for example, by example billing or joint manipulation of the object.'

Birds of a feather: Interaction was mainly between ravens of the opposite sex and helped them become closer by sharing the object


Dr Pika said that ravens are songbirds belonging to the corvid family like crows and magpies, and they surpass most of the other avian species in terms of intelligence.
He said: 'Their scores on various intelligence tests are similarly high than those of great apes.
'Ravens in particular can be characterised by complex intra-pair communication, relatively long-time periods to form bonds and a relatively high degree of cooperation between partners.
'Gesture studies have too long focused on communicative skills of primates only.
'The mystery of the origins of human language, however, can only be solved if we look at the bigger picture and also consider the complexity of the communication systems of other animal groups.'

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Crow invasion frustrates California Borough residents

CALIFORNIA, Pa. -- California Borough residents said thousands of crows have invaded their neighborhoods, leaving behind a mess every night.

People who live in the area said the birds arrive in the area at dusk and stay until sunrise.

"At 7 in the morning, it's louder than my alarm," said Jess Priest.

"It's really bad. It keeps us up at night. They go to the bathroom everywhere. Our cars get destroyed," said Jen Sasko.

Channel 11's Dave Bondy reported that California University of Pennsylvania used laser lights to get rid of the crows, and that's when they fled to the American Legion on Second Street.

One woman who lives in the area said she made a scarecrow in hopes of ridding her home of the problem.

"One day I was so mad I said I was going to build a scarecrow. I didn't know if they actually worked. I put it in the tree and it didn't," Bree Robinson said.

Experts said crows roost in cities to be warmer in the winter.

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They arrive by the thousands, dark undulating lines flying low over the urban landscape, drawn nightly by some unknown force of nature to a patch of forest set in an unlikely tangle of commercial buildings and transportation corridors in Burnaby.

That's how it's been since the 1970s as northwestern crows from False Creek, the North Shore and north Surrey gather at their greatest roosting site in B.C., a spot near Willingdon Avenue and Still Creek, just north of Highway 1.

Could all that change? The destruction of the roost site earlier this year for development of a Costco outlet and new Keg restaurant has left one researcher concerned and more than a little saddened.

"They're very confused," said Michael Jackson, a research associate at the University of B.C., who's been studying the crows for the past two years.

"Most of them leave the roost in summer. They come back and expect to find their roost and it's no longer there."
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