Crows: Not Just Another Birdbrained Species

Crows may have gotten a bad reputation over the centuries. It is not uncommon for a species whose survival strategy is primarily to eat the dead carcasses of other animals, either left over from another animal's hunt or killed along side of the road to gain a reputation as being an animal associated with death. The black color of their feathers might have something to do with it also.

The black carrion bird is traditionally considered a nuisance. Much like rats crows are given the short end of the stick on many things. While the Raven may mostly be fantasy, a former high school English teacher of mine pointed out that crows could be trained to "talk" much like a parrot for one or two words. Even more amazing is that scientists have found crows - the New Caledonia species that are capable of using tools.

Science used to believe that only mankind achieved this particular development, but several other species of birds, including one of the finches on the Galapogos islands and some species of monkeys have been shown to use tools as well. At least mankind can say that the tools he uses are the most complex yet and so far, no other animal has mastered the use of fire.

Exactly how intelligent crows are is debatable. One urban legend says that crows know how to count and involves three hunters and a blind. Whether or not that is true, the birds do have a good memory and are not likely to forget something that has frightened them in the past.

Because crows are not at the top of the food chain, they are preyed upon by larger animals, particularly hawks and owls. Reports of the crows gathering together to "mob" their predators may seem exaggerated and I would not have personally believed it until I saw two crows trying to bring down a young red tail hawk out of the sky.

Whether or not mankind can learn to get along with crows or not, the species which eats practically anything is adaptable and extremely good at survival because of it. Keeping one as a pet may not be an option, but they can be interesting to observe from a distance. Because of their survival skils, crows do often not need to migrate South for the winter and can be seen year round in many areas.

Sources:

http://www.zeebyrd.com/corvi29/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6948446.stm