Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)

news.nationalgeographic.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 242 posts

Re: When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)

#111

Post by bitJericho »

finid wrote: post #82
frankquist wrote: post #71

Earlier 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.

Smaller animals are incredibly faster than humans in reaction times because of the difference in the length of their nerves. Birds are also far smarter than people give them credit for. Nothing can read minds tho. That's pure fantasy.

Re: When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)

#112

Post by lethargic_meat »

13of40 wrote: post #90
PhasmaFelis wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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".

Could it be Hopkinsville? http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/kentucky-town-unde...

Re: When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)

#113

Post by andrepd »

finid wrote: post #82
frankquist wrote: post #71

Earlier 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'm just curious what your thought process is. I mean, what makes you think something so wacky as reading minds is happening (come on..) when the explanation is probably just that the birds have quick reflexes.

Re: When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)

#114

Post by DoubleGlazing »

adamnemecek wrote: post #4

If 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_.

Cycling to work one day and while stopped at some lights at a major Dublin intersection I noticed a crow drop a half eaten apple just ahead of the stop line.

Looking back after the lights turned green I could see the apple had been crushed by a car and the crow was gobbling up the delicious juicy apple mush.

Re: When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)

#116

Post by bitJericho »

nstart wrote: post #110
avar wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I assume these were crows who had forever lived > in urban areas and probably never been shot at > let alone seen a gun. Easy explanation for this that's probably correct: - Your assumption that crows don't range outside the urban area is false. - It would have only taken one crow in the group to be familiar with a gun - That single individual recognizing it and flying off in a panic triggers the rest to fly off, a…

My assumption might be false. It doesn't necessarily have to be false. Our urban area is fairly large. I agree it would take just one crow to be familiar with a gun. But at the same time, there was no displaying of the gun. The crows weren't in the immediate vicinity. They were mostly on the trees two houses away. The recognition that I had brought out a dangerous object took just a few seconds from the moment I step…

Birds can see small objects from very far distances. Small objects from a mile or more. An eagle for example can be nearly out of your range of sight but can easily see rodents. Once the crows saw the object they would raise an alarm which is why the whole group squawked and left.

Re: When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)

#117

Post by coldtea »

finid wrote: post #82
frankquist wrote: post #71

Earlier 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.

>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?

Tons of things, from being able to understand body cues that the guy is up to some BS (like we can tell a liar), to smelling the thing he has in his hands...

Plus who said it "couldn't see the thing" in the first place? Even if it couldn't see what in his hand, it could have watched his moves before, as he left the apple and picked up the rock etc.

Re: When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)

#118

Post by coldtea »

finid wrote: post #59
sirtastic wrote: post #39

I 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…

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…

>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 eyes met, it knew, and took off.

It could have took off for 100000 reasons, non of which end being "because it read your mind".

For example: it got scared, it did it randomly, is afraid of strangers because it had some bad experience, etc...

Re: When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)

#119

Post by ogig »

I've been very involved with the carrion crows near my house. I feed them with peanuts. At first they wouldn't even come near the food. Now they salute, ask for food, do fly bys and they get extremely close to me. I have observed them long hours.

What most amazes me is how they communicate. They group and start talking complex things using low volume sounds. Maybe they discuss how to stash my peanuts, or what side they will use to approach me, or who will stay back and watch for dangers.

They also do long distance talking. At the mornings mainly, the group will remain silent while a designated one will song loud. You can hear distant groups responding. Sometimes this long distance chat start group movements to where I can't follow them.

Crow are intelligent, amazing animals. I encourage everyone to look at them more often, they do look at us all the time.

Post reply on HN