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I used to have an office with a view on a group of crows nesting in tree. They were super entertaining. One day I watched a pair of them build a nest. Two othe
by rqtwteye 2y ago
I used to have an office with a view on a group of crows nesting in tree. They were super entertaining. One day I watched a pair of them build a nest. Two other views watched then carrying in branches. When the two had left, they walked over and took the branches for their own nest. After a day the first couple realized what’s going on and went out in shifts.
They also liked to poop on certain people but not on others.
- card_zero 2y agoPigeons do that too (stick theft). Sticks are a valuable resource, though some are evidently worth more than others. Bird brains are probably tuned for rapid stick assessment.
- aithrowawaycomm 2y ago> Bird brains are probably tuned for rapid stick assessment. I don’t think this is true, birds use all sorts of things to make their nests, including improvising with human objects if there are no sticks. Many don’t use sticks at all (e.g. glueing grass and leaves together with mud). Crows and pigeons in particular are probably smart enough to recognize a “good stick” as a valuable structural material based on physical principles, and can easily transfer that understanding to other “sticks” made of metal, plastic, etc. Note that for crows the assessment is not “rapid”, they play with sticks before deciding to accept or reject them: https://corvidresearch.blog/2016/03/29/everything-you-want-to-know-about-crow-nests/ https://corvidresearch.blog/2016/03/29/everything-you-want-t...
- card_zero 2y agoWell, alright. They see things in sticks that I don't, is all. Nesting pigeons generally didn't prefer my suggested sticks when I tried providing some: probably too neat, lacking structural potential, since they have to be hooked and wedged and woven together.