Crows live everywhere in the world except Antarctica and are a part of myths and legends in many cultures. Their reputation in the stories varies from comical to frightening, godlike or wise, bringers of light and bringers of death, though a “murder” of crows refers to a flock of crows, and not to anything murderous, at all. They may be all these things, but what we are learning is that they are especially smart.
New research has shown that they are among the most intelligent animals on the planet. They use tools as only elephants and chimpanzees do, and recognize 250 distinct calls. One particular talent they have been discovered to possess is the ability to recognize individual human faces and pick them out of a crowd up to two years later – a trick that might make even Hitchcock shiver with fright.
They thrive wherever people live and have used their great intelligence to adapt again and again to a constantly changing world. Some memorize garbage truck routes, and follow the feast from day to day. Others drop nuts in the road and wait for passing cars to crack them open. And some build their nests from items we throw away – like wire clothes hangers.
These are social birds that mate for life and raise their young for up to five years. And they learn from each other’s misfortunes. When one is killed in a farmer’s field, it’s not uncommon for them to change entire migratory patterns so that no crows fly over that field for as long as two years.
These birds might have a scary reputation, but what may prove to be the scariest thing about them is how much they know about us, and how little we know about them!
A Murder of Crows premieres Sunday, October 24 at 8:00 PM.
Cannot wait to watch this! Crows are fasinating and intelligent creatures.
Very interesting, and here I thought crows were STUPID….guess I am the stupid one.
I remember about 25 years ago when my dad was alive he told me about a conversation he had with a friend about a farmer that friend knew. The farmer stated that crows can count. He said that he and some family friends were sitting around on the back porch one evening and someone commented on how the crows that hung around the farm did not go near the barn if there was a human in the barn.
After some consideration it was decided that five of the group would go into the barn as a group, but only four would leave as a group after a few minutes to see if the crows would know that a human was still in the barn.
They did this and the crows would not go near the barn.
Then they tried it with five going into the barn as a group and staying for a few minutes and then all five walking out as a group. When all five walked out as a group and had left the barn then the crows flew back down to the barn.
The farmer remarked to my dad’s friend that those crows were smarter than some people because some people cannot count to five, and they all had a good laugh.
So glad I was able to see this. I have always enjoyed watching crows, glad to know a bit more about them,
2 years ago I found a fledgling crow stuck in between two houses. I waited to see if he could get out but eventually figured out he was too weak. After fishing him out I checked his feet, it looked liked he had been on the ground for awhile. I fed him some canned cat food and lots of water, wrapped him up tight in a towel and left him to rest for a few hours in a laundry basket. When I took him outside, i checked his wings over to see if he could flap and make sure there was no injuries. Tried a couple test flights with my hand over his feet that were gripping my other hand and I judged him ready to go. I climbed up an old fire escape that was surrounded by trees, set him on the rail and waited. About a half hour went by and he finally hopped onto a tree branch. Then he started squawking! Mom and dad were there in about a minute. That whole summer every time the crow crew in my neighborhood saw me they would all start making a racket! Now I know why! Awesome show!
For a time, we had what might be called pet crows. Early on they learned I would throw a few saltines out the front door onto the driveway, but only if they sat up on the gutter. This all began because they, startled, would fly to the gutter when I would open the door. It didn’t take long for them to realize they would not get the crackers if they milled around on the driveway. They had to sit on the gutter.
Our favorite crow was very distinguishable because he had obviously broken a leg early in life and walked with a distinct limp. Our young daughters named him “Limpy.” Limpy was obviously the top crow. He would fly to the gutter first. Others would follow. Limpy always arrived with his mate, whom we called Strutter. He usually got first dibs on the crackers, but sometimes he would wait until other crows arrived and let them eat first. Most interesting is Limpy knew exactly when we would be eating lunch or dinner. He would land on the gutter, look at us through the kitchen window and begin to scratch his claws to make a noise to get our attention. In the fall, I saw Limpy and others hiding the crackers in fallen leaves for later use.
I am still amazed with the varied sounds of crows’ voices, from the soft rattle – a sort of affection – to the desperate cry of alarm when a predator was present (in one case a seemingly lost juvenile snowy owl perched in a tree in our backyard.) I’ve learned the sound of babies being fed, and watched young crows try to eat our geraniums once they set out on their own. Many times, the babies didn’t survive and were found dead in the road, run over by cars.
I’ve seen crows snatch baby Mallard ducks from their nests to feed to their young. I’ve watched them sit waiting for scraps as a bald eagle devoured an adult Mallard on a snowy bank on West Grand Traverse Bay. All the while, I have felt a great connection with crows We lost the “pet” aspect when we moved out of our house during remodeling in 2005. We removed the gutters outside the kitchen, and the crows never returned in the same way. We never saw Limpy again.
Had to write all this down! Only caught the last 20 minutes of your program but can’t wait to see the entirety of it.
Just saw this wonderful show and read some of the above fascinating posts about crows. I too had a memorable experience about 8 years ago in the Estancia, NM area.
I walked outside to my barn and saw a few crows flying overhead, one had what looked like a large , white egg in it’s beak. I yelled up, “What’s that in your beak”, walked back toward the house and heard something hit the ground. The crow dropped a golf ball where I just was. I laughed and went inside. Not much later I went outside, the golf ball was gone which made me think the crow came back for it. A week later I told the story to a bean farmer in the valley and she said, “Oh we’ve found so many golf balls in our fields, and always wondered how they got there when the closest golf course is about 35 miles away”. It sounds to me like they have well developed sense of play.
A very good representation of the information I learned 45+ years ago as an “orchard protective huner”. Crows are smart! a hunter does not want to kill a crow, because the flock will fly away, a wounded crow causes the flock to land and watch. This allows a concealed hunter to snipe additional crows before the the original target dies. Several additional crows may be exterminated before the first crow dies. Once the first crow dies all the crows become silent, then systematicly fly away. Magpies behave in a similar mannor, but crows are by far smarter. I apologize for my behavior, this was an economic necissiity. If the authors would like more informarion please feel free to contact me.
we live where a female white goose raises canadian goose chicks every year they are not hers but somehow she manages to adopt these chicks and teach them all the means of fishing food and survival ..how she gets the chicks is not known whether from the eggs or after they are born we dont know they dont look like her but once in her care she raises them as her own ….they dont leave her side…….she is in charge and the other canadian geese let her take over ..this has been going on for years ..she also reconizes when we stop and talk to her she also talks to the canadian geese and they seem to understand her..she is a remarkable goose and we look forward to seeing her raise new little ones again this spring..
when our son was young he brought home a pigeon with a damaged wing and he put it in a box and cared for the bird until it was able to go back to the sky..he was upset that the bird had to go but happy to release the bird back into the wild ..
Here are several ways crows are smarter or at least more suitable to take college classes than the typical 18-22-year-old human set (IMHO):
1) crows are not afraid to speak in a group
2) crows have a loud social voice and a quiet voice for intimate conversations
3) crows can make tools to solve their problems
4) crows can think at least three moves ahead
5) crows can test hypotheses, reject those that don’t work, and keep trying
6) crows can innovate with materials at hand
7) crows pay strict attention and take mental notes
8) crows learn from experience and remember
9) crows know that actions have consequences
10) crows have strong family bonds and pitch in
I’m not saying that some homo sap saps aren’t capable of some or all of these traits, but every corvus corvidae seemed capable of every behavior. Thanks for the program.
I love these birds they are so beautiful, I have been feeding them peanuts in the shell along with a squirrel population for the past two years…I had to stop because I acquired an assistant dog who might eat my wild friends offerings….they all still visit my yard to look for food after not putting any out for over a year…I feel bad that I cannot feed them but being in a wheelchair and needing my beautiful dog I cannot risk my dog getting any other food…I used to talk with them as I watched behind my screen door they in turn called to me as they sat on my fence…and I heard the alarm being sounded from those in the trees when a cat would come around…
I needed something to do a report for school on and I couldn’t think. I sat down on the couch and wanted to watch some TV but I couldn’t find the remote so I was stuck watching this. After it finished I was glad I didn’t or wasn’t able to change the channel. I knew exactly what I was going to do for my report!!!! CROWS!!!!
the crows are my friends. i have 5 cats and live in the foothills of the Rockies where we have many predators (of cats and me i guess). so when my cats and i go out (together), i spend my time running around our acreage looking for the cats to protect them while they get to play outside. unfortunately they hide on me. after years of observation, there is a recurring experience between my cats, my crows and me. the crows go to the tree canopy above the hiding cat and caw (crow talk) to let me know where to find the cat. the first couple of times i thought it was a coincidence but after about 10 times, i realized their camaraderie. the cats picked up on it right away but see it a bit differently than me. when the crows are not around as is periodically the case, the female ground squirrels are my alarms. i am glad for the recent TV show to bring appreciation for the crows.
Dear Friend of Crows,
crows.net has begun a petition to the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to repeal the regulations allowing states to have crow hunting seasons and to prohibit sport hunting of crows in the United States. Please use the link below to get to the petition on change.org. It only takes a minute or so to sign and it could help make the difference between life and death for America’s crows.
https://www.change.org/petitions/dan-ashe-director-u-s-fish-and-wildlife-service-rescind-50-cfr-20-133-and-prohibit-the-sport-hunting-of-crows#share
It would be great if you could pass this email message along to everyone you know and also post it on any social media you use.
Michael Westerfield
crows.net
Please if anyone has any info on releasing wild crow babies that have been admitted to care by those of us licensed to rehab wildlife….if they are hand raised as orphans can they be released into the wild in any other environment other than the murder into which they were born??? MY situation is one that I can not release them back to where they came from (theme park orphans). I have released many in the past years but feel they don’t survive long term even in the the beautiful pristine environment of my rural farm!