4 ms·
You can tell how much smarter crows are just by going to feed the ducks. The crows watch YOU and your arm, predict where you'll throw and move there in advance
by jonplackett 6y ago
You can tell how much smarter crows are just by going to feed the ducks.
The crows watch YOU and your arm, predict where you'll throw and move there in advance, often catching things in mid-air. It's not just reaction speed, they're watching really carefully and making guesses. The ducks are next on the spectrum, they spot it first (after it lands) and geese are the dumbest, the feed can hit them right in the head, and even once they realise what's happening some other duck will usually get there and eat it before they do.
- lehi 6y agoDragonflies execute predictive flight patterns to catch prey mid-flight with 95% accuracy, so that ability alone may not be a good proxy for intelligence: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26684-dragonflies-anticipate-their-preys-flight-path/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26684-dragonflies-ant...
- tomc1985 6y agoDogs can catch all kinds of things mid-air. Mine has started doing so with rocks (sigh)...
- selectodude 6y agoDogs are pretty smart though. My one dog is very smart and can easily nab things out of the air. My less intelligent dog can't tell his ass from his elbow and things hit him in the face all the time.
- filleduchaos 6y agoWhat breeds are your "very smart" and "less intelligent" dog? (Asking because people tend to equate predatory behaviour to intelligence, which is both not accurate and rather alarming)
- wiredfool 6y agoNot the poster, but: Smart: Collie, Springer. Not so smart: Greyhound/Lurcher. I've had collie puppies successfully herd cats.
- mcswell 6y agoAnd after the geese, there are the scientists: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/5418462023483022/ https://www.pinterest.com/pin/5418462023483022/
- noisy_boy 6y agoWhen I was young, we whould go to my grandpa's place during summer school holidays. He would go to the porch of his cottage every morning, call out to the crows shouting "kaaa... kaaa... kaaa..." and tossed pieces of bread in the air. Whole bunch of crows. They would be ready for this daily feeding frenzy and would catch every since piece of bread in the air without fail. It was a free animal acrobatics show that I never got tired of watching.
- filleduchaos 6y agoActually all you've really said is that a crow is a predator and ducks/geese are not.