An investigation into the state of corvid–human relations • Hacker News Board

Re: An investigation into the state of corvid–human relations

#61

Post by kobalsky » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 10:03 PM UTC

smurda wrote: post #15

Crows can remember a dangerous person and tell their friends about it. From "Social learning spreads knowledge about dangerous humans among American crows" ( https://faculty.washington.edu/wirsinga/Cornell2011.pdf ) We exposed wild crows to a novel ‘dangerous face’ by wearing a unique mask as we trapped, banded and released 7 –15 birds at five study sites near Seattle, WA, USA. An immediate scolding response to the d…

This is tangential but our monk parakeets make a special sound when they see something they don't like. We have learned to identify it, and hilarously, our dogs did too.

Now when they see something weird (recently, a bird of prey in street light they saw through the window) they sound the alarm and the dogs go absolutely crazy.

Re: An investigation into the state of corvid–human relations

#62

Post by marshray » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 10:06 PM UTC

fmajid wrote: post #48

They forgot to mention the most famous corvids in mythology, Odin’s familiars Huginn and Muninn

I can't believe they left out Gothi and Gethli in Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Re: An investigation into the state of corvid–human relations

#63

Post by mlmonkey » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 10:39 PM UTC

dinfinity wrote: post #54

mlmonkey wrote: post #36

I like the fact that they are so ... observant. A specific crow (I recognize him due to the missing feathers around his collar) will spend a while sitting on a tree outside my window, observing me for no reason. I do feed them generally by leaving peanuts in a specific area in the backyard early in the morning, and I'm sure this one partakes in the feast; but I have never rewarded his presence in any form, and yet th…

Isn't he just checking/waiting for the food to come out? If he's the first to it, he gets the best haul.

The food comes out early in the morning (8AM). This guy I often find watching me around noon. So the food has long been consumed and forgotten.

Re: An investigation into the state of corvid–human relations

#64

Post by 9dev » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 10:59 PM UTC

spike021 wrote: post #55

mlmonkey wrote: post #36

I like the fact that they are so ... observant. A specific crow (I recognize him due to the missing feathers around his collar) will spend a while sitting on a tree outside my window, observing me for no reason. I do feed them generally by leaving peanuts in a specific area in the backyard early in the morning, and I'm sure this one partakes in the feast; but I have never rewarded his presence in any form, and yet th…

sounds like my dog. he knows when to sit and stare at me to wait for his usual food routine and, occasionally, treats. once he realizes that no it isn't time for either, he goes away.

Mine will just sit somewhere else where he thinks I surely must see him now, and lick his lips when I look at him just to make a point. Sometimes I wonder if he’s considering hitting me with his bowl because I’m obviously too stupid to understand his super obvious question

Re: An investigation into the state of corvid–human relations

#65

Post by ggm » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 11:14 PM UTC

the article gets my up vote for at least admitting some bird scientists think a lot of this may be projection (one I am also fond of making) and that crows are a lot less into us than we might think.

Re: An investigation into the state of corvid–human relations

#66

Post by littlekey » Fri, Aug 28, 2026, 11:27 PM UTC

This is cool. Makes me wonder what could be done to foster the friendship aside from food. Are there any sorts of games/activities one would could play with a corvid solely for mutual entertainment? And would the bird think of it in those terms?

Re: An investigation into the state of corvid–human relations

#67

Post by earleybird » Sat, Aug 29, 2026, 12:30 AM UTC

bob1029 wrote: post #57

bee_rider wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From a bird’s point of view, large mammals must be interesting. You are just doing a little digging in the garden, but it’s an absolutely tremendous amount of earth you’ve moved compared to their ability to dig. I’m always curious about animals’ perception of us. I think they don’t really have the concepts of things like doors, lids, etc, as constructed devices that are made to be manipulated. I wonder if they think…

> I think they don’t really have the concepts of things like doors, lids, etc, as constructed devices that are made to be manipulated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raccoon

Field research from some time ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqTt_jDDCio

Re: An investigation into the state of corvid–human relations

#68

Post by jibal » Sat, Aug 29, 2026, 12:56 AM UTC

"seems" does a lot of work here. But rational analysis tells us that, whatever the relationship is, it's not friendship.

Re: An investigation into the state of corvid–human relations

#69

Post by moron4hire » Sat, Aug 29, 2026, 2:09 AM UTC

Perhaps new levels of transcendant coexistence could be achieved through the use of bird qualudes.

Re: An investigation into the state of corvid–human relations

#70

Post by NoItsDanger » Sat, Aug 29, 2026, 2:15 AM UTC

I feed them all the time and they recognize me.

They love chicken strips which feels wrong. But they like what they like.

They may become the primary intelligent species of the planet some day - since the evil LLM will never be able to predict their communications and will not be able to wipe them out