Very interesting. I'd love to know how many calls were made to the local police station reporting people in creepy masks standing around with dead crows.
When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)
81–90 of 242 posts
Re: When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
What most people don't realize is that most live forms lower on the chain can read our minds. So if the crow's reaction was different based on what you wanted to throw, it's because it knew what you wanted to do before you did it. It was reading your thoughts. Dogs and cats do it too. A few years ago I went to a farm to buy a goat. The younger goats did not know why I was there, but when an older goat saw me and our…
Okay, so these are the kinds of things that definitely need a citation ;) In what sense do you mean reading minds? Genuine mind reading, or basically a kind of intuiting about human intention based on say, body language?
Sorry, no citation. Just my personal knowledge and experience.
And it's not just reading body language, but actual reading your thoughts. In the case of the crow, what body language tells it that the guy is about to throw a piece of rock or a bone when it can't SEE the object?
I know it's not something I can prove to you, but that doesn't mean it's not happening.
Re: When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)
#83If you find this interesting, you should really look into the intelligence of crows. They've been observed to remember human faces, wait on traffic lights, plan, and a whole bunch of things that are very impressive. And don't even get me started on _jackdaws_.
In Japan they use traffic lights to collect cracked nuts https://youtu.be/BGPGknpq3e0
I used to have a really awesome "symbiosis" with a flock of crows. For four years, while going to work, I passed every day down a desolate black road, near a walnut tree. At first, I'd grab the walnuts from the ground and crows'd get angry and even dive-bomb me. However, as time passed by, we started understanding each other - when they see me coming, they'd drop walnuts on the ground and wait for me to smash their shells open. As a reward for my effort, they won't mind me grabbing a few walnuts for myself.
Re: When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)
#84In some regions, they also burn the body to make sure they don't come back from the dead.
made my day
Re: When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)
#85I believe ravens and crows are very similar, this is a personal (long, and not the great) story about a raven I messed around with in Yosemite National Park: When I was up on north dome (not to be confused with half dome) there was a group of raven's hanging out on the rocks watching us eat our late lunch. I had an apple core that I tossed to the side and watched as a raven warily tried to approach it. I walked over…
You realize you're not supposed to toss around garbage in the national park?
Biodegradable apple cores that he was feeding to birds? I think that hardly qualifies.
Re: When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)
#86"...Afterward the birds ignored the harmless Cheneys" No such a thing as a harmless Dick Cheney.
Indeed. This research is part of Dick Cheney's sinister plot to regain power using an army of crows trained to hate everyone but him...
Re: When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)
#87The notorious Doritos shop lifting sea gull of Aberdeen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqy9hxhUxK0
And another in South Shield, who favours Greggs -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4QXyUjQCgE
Re: When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)
#88Mockingbirds also remember faces. They will attack if they think you are a predator. I had one who decided my daily walk was a threat - maybe I walked too close to its nest - and came straight at my face. Scary as hell. That bird then swooped to attack every time I went outdoors. To Kill a Mockingbird indeed.
Magpies as well. They aim for the face/eyes. Usually if you come too close to their nest.
Re: When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
Okay, so these are the kinds of things that definitely need a citation ;) In what sense do you mean reading minds? Genuine mind reading, or basically a kind of intuiting about human intention based on say, body language?
Sorry, no citation. Just my personal knowledge and experience. And it's not just reading body language, but actual reading your thoughts. In the case of the crow, what body language tells it that the guy is about to throw a piece of rock or a bone when it can't SEE the object? I know it's not something I can prove to you, but that doesn't mean it's not happening.
>I know it's not something I can prove to you, but that doesn't mean it's not happening.
Come on man.
Re: When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
To put the story you linked in context, it's less "little girl feeds a couple of crows" and more "large scale feeding operation" that pisses of the neighbors: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Neighbors-sue-to-stop...
Not enough data to draw a firm conclusion from here, but I've heard enough stories of busybody neighbors to be suspicious of anyone who comes in claiming that bird poop has caused $200,000 worth of property damage. You'd expect the whole neighborhood to be leveled every time a starling migration comes through.
I'm not sure if it's ever happened in the Pacific Northwest, but bird poop can contaminate areas with a pathogen that persists in the soil and causes a tuberculosis-like lung disease. I think there was even a town in the Midwest that had to be abandoned because of it. Bird poop is also a vector for various parasites that can harm you and your pets. (Plus it's gross.)
Edit: It's called "histoplasmosis".