Of course they have a language. Most people have too much background noise in their area to actually hear it. Even vultures have a language (though they are extremely quiet - you can only hear them when they are very close and there's no noise or wind at all...it sounds a lot like hissing). Crows have a very wide dialect, and many distinctive calls. Pretty bright, for birds.
 #4 - Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:59 PM EDTSo how do these birds exibit such complex behavior, including tool use, language, etc. with such a small brain? Methinks the brain is not the only source of intelligence.
#5 - Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:43 PM EDTCrows are Very smart birds. They absolutely do remember people and things. I used to have a golden retriever who barked at some crows in the back yard. After that whether she was in the back, or I walked her in the street they continued to follow and caw over her head. Crows not only recognize their parents, but their siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. I used to walk another dog at a very large park "Mile Square, which wound around and had huge trees, streams etc, A lot of people walked their dogs. When one would start up one side of the park, one group would start cawing a warning, and then it would continue around the park. One day as I was starting I called up in a quiet voice, "it's okay, it's okay." I did that for a week and after that we could walk all the way around without a single peep from a crow. I now have 2 crows that come out in the morning, sit on my roof, and caw as soon as I put my bedroom shades up. I go out, and toss small pieces of torn up bread around, several others join them, and they don't bother with me the rest of the day even though they're all around the neighborhood. You should see the video of the crow that adopted an abandoned kitten. It's delightful. This tiny kitten was abandoned by its mother, and the crow started feeding it, bugs, worms, etc. and they spent their day with the crow following the kitten around. After a few days a couple on a farm took the kitten in, and fed it, but each morning the crow would come out and caw at the door, the cat would come out, and they literally played all day, one chasing the other and back and forth, and then napped together. It was amazing. The animal kingdom is more wondrous than we can even imagine.
#6 - Tue Jun 28, 2011 10:12 PM EDTGood point about intelligence. There is some interesting research out that we have a 2nd 'brain' in our gut. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=gut-second-brain Back to crows they have been studied to be as smart as the gray parrot (see the novel, Crow Planet). Imagine in your back yard, one of the intelligent birds in the world. They live in close knit family groups and take care of their injured peers. Listen to them = there is much more to the communication than their caw. Their chortle to each other is very sweet.
#7 - Tue Jun 28, 2011 10:15 PM EDTIf you want to learn the language of another species, you have to take the time to listen and observe what it does, what the sounds signify. Dolphins have a warning note that means "THREAT!". A couple of marine biologists rigged up a keyboard that they could play underwater to mimic the dolphin whistles and clicks. When that note was sounded, the dolphins fled quickly. A biologist studying elephant communication can now interpret the various snorts, rumbles and burblings that elephants make. Even bees have a language. And plants communicate with each other, too, by chemistry.
#8 - Tue Jun 28, 2011 10:24 PM EDTSo many really great creations with which we live. Don'cha wish we all treated everything better?
#9 - Tue Jun 28, 2011 11:19 PM EDT'"The more we messed with them, the more we thought they were really paying attention to us," Marzluff told LiveScience,' isn't a very scientific statement. And just how are the crows communicating to others not previously familiar with the particular offending human who they should be directing their ire to?
#10 - Tue Jun 28, 2011 11:22 PM EDTLook at this video: Teaming up with others to scold you... holding grudges for years... gossiping about your "bad" behavior with the whole neigborhood... Crows sound a lot like my ex-wife.
#11 - Tue Jun 28, 2011 11:56 PM EDTI wonder if the "Old Crow" that Cheney shot, holds a grudge---caw, caw
#12 - Wed Jun 29, 2011 12:29 AM EDTThey are an amazingly intelligent bird, yet farmers continue to think the 'scarecrow' they put up has any effect whatsoever in keeping their crops safe. "Crows have been known to change their entire migration pattern to avoid farms where even a single crow has been killed in the past. Generations upon generations later, they still remember specific houses where one measly bird has died. Sure, they're only avoiding those houses for now -- those houses that they remember, those houses that they know have taken one of their own -- but there's just something deeply unsettling about the possibility that there are millions of crows out there right now that know your address." from Cracked-dot-com "6-terrifying-ways-crows-are-way-smarter-than-you-think"
#13 - Wed Jun 29, 2011 12:34 AM EDTS4WDu5T, That's fascinating. Then it seems that if farmers wanted to keep crows away rather than the scarecrow, they should shoot a couple....I'm not suggesting that however. I've seen doves/pigeons do the same as crows around here. My husband and I along with our two dogs always get scolded when we go outside. It all started after a fledgling fell out of the nest and our puppy killed it It went on for over 3 and half years till one day one of them ended up in our pool and couldn't get out. I rescued it and since then the scolding has stopped. Birds are far smarter than humans want to realize.
#14 - Wed Jun 29, 2011 12:37 AM EDTthis is no joke my grandmas cat killed a crow and they would go after it in group sweeping down and chasing it. Dont @!$%# with crows! #15 - Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:40 AM EDTi think crows hate humans because we don't feed them we feed pigeons and duck cause thier cute but not crows cause they are black and scary they just want equal rights FEED THE CROWS PEOPLE! #17 - Wed Jun 29, 2011 2:03 AM EDTOn my farm my brother shot at crows whenever he saw them. The entire flock would stay just out of his sight or range. If one strayed it was hustled back. I refused to believe until now that it was anything but coincidence. I wish I could avoid him as well as they do.
#18 - Wed Jun 29, 2011 2:09 AM EDT
Actually, I was thinking more Poe-like. "Never more, never more." #20 - Wed Jun 29, 2011 2:51 AM EDTAnd the bit about the Dick Cheney mask was brilliant! Expose more birds to it! #21 - Wed Jun 29, 2011 2:52 AM EDTIt'd be great if all the animals in the world began doing this to every human who eats their friends and relatives. I can envision McDonalds' and Burger King's all over the globe, overrun by bands of REALLY mad cows. Ahhh, what a sweet thought indeed. #22 - Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:28 AM EDTIf I'm attacked by crows on the way to work, on the second day, I'm not bringing an umbrella, I'm bringing a tennis racket. I have no desire to harm animals, but if I'm being attacked by them, then I'm going to defend myself. If they are smart enough to remember faces, then they are also smart enough to know that they can get away with bullying something that doesn't defend itself, and if they are smart enough, they'll soon learn that they shouldn't bully me (or at least people with tennis rackets). #24 - Wed Jun 29, 2011 5:43 AM EDTI once knew a naturalist who claimed that he had witnessed crows conductiong a court type trial of an offending member of the flock. The accused crow was on ground in center and verious members of the flock would fly down and do all sorts of squawking around him. Finally at some point the entire flock took off after the offending bird and plucked his tail feathers out. #25 - Wed Jun 29, 2011 5:58 AM EDT |
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