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How a hawk learned to use traffic signals to hunt more successfully

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Re: How a hawk learned to use traffic signals to hunt more successfully

#71

Post by IAmBroom »

Neywiny wrote: post #17
krisoft wrote: post #6

I have a similar story. I was taxiing a Cessna 152 at LHBS. It is a big grassy field. On that day there were a large flock of black birds sitting on the grass. I made the usual radio call to announce that I'm leaving the runway and taxiing to the tie-downs when the birds flitted away just between my airplane's nose and my destination. The birds outside of that "road" by roughly a wingspan distance remained on the gro…

I'm not an ornithologist but I think birds integrate some onboard magnetic compass sensors. So, it would be interesting if they can pick up the magnetic part of an electromagnetic wave of the radio. Seems very low likelihood but would be cool. Edit to add https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/08/230828130356.h... . What frequency were you at? Seems they may actually be listening.

"Picking up" and "discerning useful data" are very different.

I'm not even talking about "deciphering". Even knowing that energy in a certain bandwidth means planes about to leave seems a large jump - and a radio tuned to a station is likely an order of magnitude more stringent than an animal's sensory abilities.

Re: How a hawk learned to use traffic signals to hunt more successfully

#73

Post by IAmBroom »

lloeki wrote: post #35
hackeraccount wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are Peregrine falcons in my city. I remember walking downtown one time and seeing one on the sidewalk with a pigeon in its talons. All the commuters and I just walked around it. Really weird somehow.

Interesting, around here raptors hunt high, and if prey falls to the ground they abandon it; too dangerous to go down in the streets.

That's a hawk vs falcon hunting difference, not a city vs countryside one.

Quail won't take off if a falcon's shadow passes over them; they'll burst if a hawk's does.

Re: How a hawk learned to use traffic signals to hunt more successfully

#74

Post by nashashmi »

hshdhdhj4444 wrote: post #21
lloeki wrote: post #13

> Cooper’s hawk is on a rather short list of bird of prey species that have successfully adapted to life in cities. A city is a difficult and very dangerous habitat for any bird, but particularly for a large raptor specializing in live prey: you have to avoid windows, cars, utility wires, and countless other dangers while catching something to eat every day. Peregrine falcons adapted quite well, and they're much more…

You have the story of Flacco the owl who lasted 1 year in Manhattan after having spent his entire life in captivity. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flaco_(owl) Even his death (due to a collision with a building) was likely less because of his ability to survive, since he managed to learn all the skills necessary, and more due to the fact that his primary food source, rats in and around the city, were laden with rat…

> underestimated non human animals cognitive abilities

I think humans have done precisely what humans do: misunderstand. Unlike other animals, humans don't have the ability to understand creatures they have not studied for long periods of time.

We know animals are intelligent. But we don't know what intelligence means. Is it something we can use? no? then it is something we ignore. And it is most likely something we disrespect.

Re: How a hawk learned to use traffic signals to hunt more successfully

#75

Post by layer8 »

senkora wrote: post #69
devoutsalsa wrote: post #50

I once wrote a personal’s ad in SQL on Craigslist, back when they had that section. A DBA replied and asked if I wanted hawking. She had a Cooper’s hawk. I met her at a commercial park in a Saturday morning. She was driving a Honda CRV, the hawk was in the front passenger seat, and I hopped into the back seat. She started driving and spotted some crows. The hawk saw them as well. Wearing a “don’t kill me either your…

I bet she was a very good database administrator.

Probably the hawkish type.

Re: How a hawk learned to use traffic signals to hunt more successfully

#76

Post by hughdbrown »

p3rls wrote: post #57

I once saw racoon prints descend from the rafters in a barn, complete with little muddy handprints on the doorknob into the feedroom, like some sorta sylvan-bandit tom cruise. When food is on the line, animals can figure all sorts of things out.

'Racoon', variant of 'raccoon'.

Of course, I prefer the double-c variant because of the orthographic anomaly of the person who tends to the raccoons' area at the zoo, the raccoon-nook-keeper.

Re: How a hawk learned to use traffic signals to hunt more successfully

#77

Post by twic »

lloeki wrote: post #13

> Cooper’s hawk is on a rather short list of bird of prey species that have successfully adapted to life in cities. A city is a difficult and very dangerous habitat for any bird, but particularly for a large raptor specializing in live prey: you have to avoid windows, cars, utility wires, and countless other dangers while catching something to eat every day. Peregrine falcons adapted quite well, and they're much more…

The Black Redstart evolved to live in holes in cliffs and the like, and never used to be widespread in the UK. After the second world war, cities all over the south were bombed out, and they moved into the deserted, derelict bombed areas in great numbers. As the bomb sites were cleared and the cities redeveloped, their habitat was eroded. But at the same time, Britain was de-industrialising, and they moved into the abandoned factories in the North. As those now get redeveloped, they are losing their habitat again.

Re: How a hawk learned to use traffic signals to hunt more successfully

#78

Post by hughdbrown »

cameronh90 wrote: post #19
troelsSteegin wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Local to south Jersey it's "ruckers".

I’m from south Jersey and have never heard of this “ruckers”. Is it near Ouaisné?

I was about to call fake on this -- Americans from south Jersey are largely unfamiliar with the present perfect and would not say "[I] have never heard of" but "[I] never heard of" instead.

But it turns out this grammatical cue is an effective way to discover that the comment is not about an American south Jersey but a British one.

Re: How a hawk learned to use traffic signals to hunt more successfully

#79

Post by throwanem »

IAmBroom wrote: post #70
throwanem wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not OP, but I'm friends with crows. Imagine having to try to explain that ...

"Baby, those body parts mean nothing to me! I love crows!" Don't hate the player, baby.

They have a much stronger sense of propriety than most humans. So really do most animals other than us and perhaps some close relatives. I'm not actually sure that says anything in our favor.
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