8-YO Seattle Girl Gets Gifts...from Crows ?!

[GreatGazoo]

Lots of people love the birds in their garden, but it's rare for that affection to be reciprocated. One young girl in Seattle is luckier than most. She feeds the crows in her garden - and they bring her gifts in return.

Eight-year-old Gabi Mann sets a bead storage container on the dining room table, and clicks the lid open. This is her most precious collection.

"You may take a few close looks," she says, "but don't touch." It's a warning she's most likely practised on her younger brother. She laughs after saying it though. She is happy for the audience.

Inside the box are rows of small objects in clear plastic bags. One label reads: "Black table by feeder. 2:30 p.m. 09 Nov 2014." Inside is a broken light bulb. Another bag contains small pieces of brown glass worn smooth by the sea. "Beer coloured glass," as Gabi describes it.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31604026

[Kalidurga]

1. Crows are very smart

they might be smarter than we are. I like them I even like their calls. It is a good thing they like us too for the most part. If you make a crow mad they will remember you and they will um retaliate if they can. Sometimes they will hate a dog or cat and they will torment them. I dunno if they do the same to people or not.

[Major Nikon]

23. The can also befriend you

A guy I work with had a crow visit him every day for a while and he was even able to teach him to mock a few words. This went on for several weeks. Eventually the crow moved on and he hasn't seen him since.

[Panich52]

32. Read in Discover mag couple years ago about their ability to recognize faces

What’s the News: A few years ago scientists learned that American crows can recognize and remember human faces, particularly faces they associate with bad experiences. Now, new research published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B shows that the birds can share that knowledge of dangerous humans with other crows.

How the Heck:

•Five years ago, zoologist John Marzluff and his research team at the University of Washington trapped, banded, and released 7–15 American crows at five different sites near Seattle. Before trapping the birds, the researchers donned different rubber masks specific to each site (a caveman face, for example). While the birds were caged, nearby crows circled the site and sounded alarm calls.

•The team then tested the crows’ reactions to the masks. Over the first two weeks, about 26 percent of the crows that the researchers encountered scolded—with a harsh, repeated kaw, accompanied by wing and tail flicking—the masked enemies. Groups of crows would sometimes mob the researchers as well, squawking and dive bombing them. When the researchers wore different, neutral masks, the crows normally did not react, suggesting that the tagged birds, as well as the birds that watched the tagging, remembered the “dangerous humans.”

•Over time, more crows joined in on scolding the masked researchers. In a little more than a year, over 30 percent of encountered crows reacted, and by three years, about 66 percent did. That percentage has continued to increase. Interestingly, the crows did not need repeated reminders of their enemies. “They hadn’t seen me for a year with the mask on and when I walked out of the office they immediately scolded me,” Marzluff told ABC.

More
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/06/30/grudge-holding-crows-pass-on-their-anger-to-family-and-friends/#.VPNZxng1jDR

[Kalidurga]

38. I saw something like this in a video a few years back, but...

there was no dive bombing in that video only crows scolding the person in the mask. I had a feeling though that a murder might employ this tactic it's nice to see that confirmed. I wish I could watch that documentary again it had a crow in it by the name of White Feather for obvious reasons if you see the video, but in the end it was just too much for me to watch.

[Panich52]

39. Wasn't that the one that was on PBS? Saw the link on google looking f/ Disc link

[Kalidurga]

40. Yes I think that was it

[ohheckyeah]

2. The crows

that hang out in my yard are very quiet unless a cat comes into the yard. When a cat is under a tree where the crows can're swoop down on it the crows sit on a tree limb closest to our deck and raise hell. When I hear that I know to chase a cat out of the yard. The crows loot at me like they want to say something and then just going about doing what crows do.

I love crows.

[BeanMusical]

3. That's so wonderful!

[roguevalley]

4. I love them too. We also have ravens here,

huge ones. They like to fly for the joy of it and if they are pissed they will tear the wipers off your car and bitch the whole time they do it. I love their sounds, chirps, pops and weird sounds. Love birds.

[BeanMusical]

5. They are incredibly smart.

Love them too.

[roguevalley]

8. they are huge. two to three times the size of

crows. they have huge beaks and if they bit or pecked you it would take skin. They are loud, fly for joy and holy up here. They brought fire to man.

[CanonRay]

7. How do you tell the difference between crows and ravens?

I live near the ocean, and was told that if you are near the ocean, the birds are ravens, not crows. Is that true? I'm not much of a birder, but these crows/ravens seem so intelligent they fascinate me. Used to love the magpies when I was in Colorado.

[GGJohn]

16. Ravens are generally 2-3 times the size of crows,

Ravens thrive in all areas of the US and are extremely intelligent and are federally protected because they're considered migratory birds.

[ScreamingMeemie]

17. Ravens are crows.

[CanonRay]

18. Actually, they are not

https://www.audubon.org/news/how-tell-raven-crow

I was hoping for a quick way to tell. I guess the tailfeathers is the easiest.

[Gormy Cuss]

26. Ravens are bigger.

If you see them on the ground it's pretty easy to spot other differences. Ravens have thick beaks and their feathers look a bit ruffled. Crows have beaks that are more triangular and their feathers look smoother.

Their calls are totally different too.

Crows and ravens are both corvids.

[GGJohn]

21. No, they're not.

Ravens are generally 2-3 times larger than crows, both birds are listed in the Migratory Bird Treaty Act as protected.

http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/regulationspolicies/mbta/mbtintro.html

[demwing]

34. They hang out together, and both are Corvids

but they are different birds

[demwing]

33. First, the voice. Crows "Kaaa" and Ravens croak (kind of)

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/page.aspx?pid=2501

Also, a crow's tail is blunt and fan shaped, a raven's tail is pointy and wedge shaped.

[hunter]

31. The ravens here are scary smart.

They know more about what's going on in our neighborhood than I do.

Yes, they do eat baby birds, quite a few of them, but that's what ravens do.

They also sit in the trees sometimes and "talk" to me and our dogs.

In the wild, ravens will lead wolves and humans to animals too large for them to kill, in return for some of the meat.

[roguevalley]

35. I hear you. :D:D:D I love to see them sitting

on top of a pole in really cold weather bitching at the top of their voices. LOL! They are so smart its scary. Wonderful animals. No wonder they are sacred. Tricksters. Brought fire to man.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. K&R & Thanks.

[ND-Dem]

9. sweet

[superpatriotman]

10. I threw half my sandwich out in the yard after reading

Very inspiring and thought-provoking.

[Liberal_in_LA]

11. great story

[Earth_First]

12. Currently reading Mind of the Raven

http://www.amazon.com/Mind-Raven-Investigations-Adventures-Wolf-Birds/dp/0061136050/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1425155568&sr=1-1&keywords=mind+of+the+raven

[Vattel]

24. I love that book. Ravens and crows are super intelligent.

[VScott]

29. They're scary smart!

6 Terrifying Ways Crows Are Way Smarter Than You Think

http://www.cracked.com/article_19042_6-terrifying-ways-crows-are-way-smarter-than-you-think.html

[TheManInTheMac]

13. Ya call those gifts? Where's the iPad, the Xbox?

Just kidding.

[Danmel]

14. nova did a show called "a murder of crows"

Crows are insanely intelligent: they remember faces and fashion tools and can do three step processes to retrieve food. Really amazing-if you can find it online, definetly check it out!

[Archae]

15. That wasn't "Nova," it was "Nature."

My Mom and I loved it.

Easy to get the two shows mixed up though, "Nature" is on first, then "Nova," Wednesday nights.

[Danmel]

19. obviously, I'm not as smart as the crows

[GreatGazoo]

22. Found it! Thanks for the tip.

[Tom Rinaldo]

30. And thank you for posting it!

I plan to watch it later. I love true stories of the sort the OP is about. And I would love to know more about crows!

[sakabatou]

20. Gifts from Odin

[KG]

25. crow skis down russian roof on bottle top...

[sl8]

27. Vending machine for crows

Ted Talk:

The Crow Box:
http://www.thecrowbox.com/

[GreatGazoo]

37. Funny and profound.

[BubbaFett]

28. it is of the devil

[a la izquierda]

41. Uh, you're kidding?

[BubbaFett]

42. they's devil birds

[locks]

36. In his great book The Animal Dialogues

Craig Childs has a chapter on ravens and their rituals, history, memory. He
says they are mobbers, together they are called "unkindnesses" or "murderers".
"Of all the bird species, corvus corax, the raven, is considered the most ingenious. And a group of birds whose behavior tops the avian IQ test."

He signed my book "Follow animals, listen to ravens, foxes, bats all around." We can learn from the animals if only we will listen.