4 ms·
So here's a story for the books. I live in Sri Lanka and we have massive numbers of crows always flying around in the urban areas causing quite the racket too.
by nstart 10y ago
So here's a story for the books. I live in Sri Lanka and we have massive numbers of crows always flying around in the urban areas causing quite the racket too. They are exceptionally intelligent and have been witnessed hitching bus rides regularly from one town to another. But the story I have happened at a school water polo match.
The location the match was being played at had a standard pool and a shallow junior pool right next to each other. During the match a wild attempt to score a goal missed the side and the ball smashed full force into a crow who was drinking water from the junior pool. This of course resulted in the poor crow's death. But what was amazing was that within a few minutes, every other crow in the vicinity had surrounded the dying crow and then decided that they would attack the spectators and the players. We had to clear the entire stadium and pool for a good half an hour till they allowed us to return (although they left their dead comrade behind who had to be cleared away by a hapless cleaning staff member).
One less impressive story but still relevant to the article. We had an antique air rifle at home that needed repairs. My uncle who did such repairs said he'd come along and look into it. That evening there were plenty of crows around as usual. Most of them were in the trees two houses away. I assume these were crows who had forever lived in urban areas and probably never been shot at let alone seen a gun. They've lived through plenty of fireworks and don't seem all that bothered by them whenever they do go off. But when I brought the gun out to show to my uncle, the ruckus caused was utterly deafening. And just like that, silence. Every single crow had scattered from the area. How they recognised an object like that and so instantly is a question and memory that has stuck around with me forever.
Amazing creatures who annoy me with their never ending din and tendencies to somehow make a mess of any garbage bag left out in the open, but they'll always have my absolute respect for their intelligence.
- avar 10y ago> I assume these were crows who had forever lived > in urban areas and probably never been shot at > let alone seen a gun. Easy explanation for this that's probably correct: - Your assumption that crows don't range outside the urban area is false. - It would have only taken one crow in the group to be familiar with a gun - That single individual recognizing it and flying off in a panic triggers the rest to fly off, a behavior typical of herd/flock animals.
- nstart 10y agoMy assumption might be false. It doesn't necessarily have to be false. Our urban area is fairly large. I agree it would take just one crow to be familiar with a gun. But at the same time, there was no displaying of the gun. The crows weren't in the immediate vicinity. They were mostly on the trees two houses away. The recognition that I had brought out a dangerous object took just a few seconds from the moment I stepped through the door. Even if my assumption is wrong about their past, the fact that some crow(s) took the sight of the gun in so quickly is still pretty darn amazing
- bitJericho 10y agoBirds can see small objects from very far distances. Small objects from a mile or more. An eagle for example can be nearly out of your range of sight but can easily see rodents. Once the crows saw the object they would raise an alarm which is why the whole group squawked and left.
- jessaustin 10y agoAre there large urban areas that don't have large numbers of air rifles? Likewise, are there young people who, upon acquiring an air rifle, don't immediately shoot at birds with it? Both scenarios are implausibly contrary to my experience.
- LyndsySimon 10y agoI vaguely remember reading about a study where a person walked out into a cornfield that was frequented by crows every morning. Every day he'd carry a loaded rifle, but on some mornings the rifle would be internally disabled. Although there was no way to tell visually if the rifle was capable of firing or not, the crows would immediately disperse on days when it was, and would ignore the man on days when it wasn't. The assumption was that they based their reaction on unconscious body language, which seems rational enough.
- robryk 10y agoDid the study involve a control, in which the man himself wouldn't be aware if the gun could be fired? There are many silly side channels that could have been used by the crows (related e.g. to preparing the gun to be disabled or enabled).
- LyndsySimon 10y agoI honestly don't recall, sorry :( I read about it many years ago.