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Crows could be the smartest animal other than primates

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331–340 of 443 posts

Re: Crows could be the smartest animal other than primates

#331

When I was a child, I'd spend a lot of time at my grandfathers farm, and one summer he took in an injured crow that hurt its wing. For some strange reason, he named all of his animals Jack, cats, dogs and now crows. So we'd go out in the morning and my grandfather would call out "Jack" and the Dog would come running down the yard, and then next thing you'd see the crow hopping down the yard after the dog. It would ar…

That's a wonderful story. My only New Year's resolution this year was to befriend a crow. So far, no progress. Maybe next year.

This is also a goal of mine. I have read that they like peanuts still in the shell.

Re: Crows could be the smartest animal other than primates

#332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeap. Food and valuables have to be toddler-proofed around crows. They can also steal your wallet or your keys if you leave them unsecured. And, damn, they're as good as human thieves at reading situations for opportunism.

I was in Nepal having breakfast. Some crows are sitting there watching me eat. I look down to read my book, and in not more than a few seconds, I hear the clinking of dishes. I look up and the crows are flying off with my toast and jam. It was right in front of me, but they were quick enough to get in and out before I could react. I realized that they are probably aware of my lack of attention to my food and that the…

I had lunch with a crow in Austin once! It was my favorite experience. I was having pizza on an outside table on 3rd/2nd ave, and a Crow was standing nearby looking at me, probably waiting until I finished so it could swoop in on the left-overs. I motioned it to come closer, left a bit of pizza on top of the table, and it flew up on the table with me. Then I'd munch on a bite, tear off a piece for the crow, and it would eat the piece. Went like that for like 20 minutes before I had to get back to work, but it was so cute. I had a little crow buddy! :)

Re: Crows could be the smartest animal other than primates

#333

When I was a child, I'd spend a lot of time at my grandfathers farm, and one summer he took in an injured crow that hurt its wing. For some strange reason, he named all of his animals Jack, cats, dogs and now crows. So we'd go out in the morning and my grandfather would call out "Jack" and the Dog would come running down the yard, and then next thing you'd see the crow hopping down the yard after the dog. It would ar…

Inverse story: my dad sprayed water at a crow on his lawn, the crow then took to perching on the clogged gutter above the front door and kicking water at anyone who walked under.

Re: Crows could be the smartest animal other than primates

#334

When I was a child, I'd spend a lot of time at my grandfathers farm, and one summer he took in an injured crow that hurt its wing. For some strange reason, he named all of his animals Jack, cats, dogs and now crows. So we'd go out in the morning and my grandfather would call out "Jack" and the Dog would come running down the yard, and then next thing you'd see the crow hopping down the yard after the dog. It would ar…

That's a wonderful story. My only New Year's resolution this year was to befriend a crow. So far, no progress. Maybe next year.

You'd probably need to start with a lone crow. As a group they can be quite nefarious and clever about it. I once slowed down a group of crows from killing and eating an injured bird; once they boldly got past my interference, they formed a sub-group and that sub-group followed me all the way home (1/2 mile) hopping from tree to tree, cawing the whole way.

Re: Crows could be the smartest animal other than primates

#335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a wonderful story. My only New Year's resolution this year was to befriend a crow. So far, no progress. Maybe next year.

This is also a goal of mine. I have read that they like peanuts still in the shell.

Over the summer my partner taught our local gang of crows that if they come to our house in the morning and the afternoon and make some noise, she'd come out and throw them peanuts and meal worms. We're not on petting them terms, but we've got an understanding. :D

Re: Crows could be the smartest animal other than primates

#336
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Predators like lions and cheetahs achieve top speeds comparable to a car driving on freeway tho.

For a whole like 8 seconds before it's nap time

And once a day only. If you fail, you starve until the next day.

Re: Crows could be the smartest animal other than primates

#337

Crows are amazingly intelligent animals. My GF and I went to the beach about a month ago and took our dog. The crows weren't frightened at ALL of our dog. They realized they could basically just 'float' up in the air when he came by using the breeze. The fact that they were amazingly calm about it was really telling. Second. We hid our stuff under a blanket. They realize it's still there as they have item persistence…

I wonder how kea ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kea ) compared to crows in terms of intelligence. I’ve heard those things are more than capable of breaking into vehicles.

They are also known to steal anvils. [1]

[1] http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Kea

Re: Crows could be the smartest animal other than primates

#338
post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>What makes us special is persistent collective learning and abstract communication. No; passing on knowledge isn't quite sufficient. The key difference is our ability to manipulate objects with hands, and our ability to harness external sources of energy, starting with fire. Cetaceans (in particular orcas and dolphins), chimps, crows, they all are known to develop & pass on language, culture, and knowledge like hunt…

I watched a documentary once that demonstrated how smart chimps are but the main point of it was to demonstrate how they do not pass on much to their offspring. Also it theorised that this is why humans didn't co-opt chimps. You can't communicate with them. A relatively dumb dog is better. i/o is more important than calculation when it comes to getting things done.

Humans are amazing teachers. If we see someone fail, we can imagine the specific reasons why and try to overcome them. Other animals like chimps also see the mistakes, but they won‘t adapt, they will just show how it‘s supposed to be done over and over.

Re: Crows could be the smartest animal other than primates

#339
post #234
post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They 'bomb' the street with walnuts where i live to open them. That's smart but not that impressive. What's impressive is - they don't do it on the parking lots where cars rarely drive, nor on the main road where cars drive constantly. They target pedestrian crossing near the main road, wait for cars to crack the walnut, then eat it. They understand where the perfect number of cars is gonna be.

And crosswalks are great, as when the light changes, they have the chance to eat it without getting run over.

In my experience "without getting run over" is very context oriented with the context being "what city are you in".

Re: Crows could be the smartest animal other than primates

#340
post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could also just be trial and error.

Is there any other form of learning?

humans are able to take concepts and and predict with 100% accuracy what will happen next without trial and error. We also have arithmetic which also is not trial and error.
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