What amazing birds. They have funerals? That's just incredible. I knew they were intelligent and recognised faces, but there's a lot more to them than I ever knew
Caveat: Living in the Greater Seattle Area, Cascade-Fairwood (Sub-Urban) neighborhood:
This morning (2024-Jul-20th; around 05:30) because my bedroom window was open, I was awoken by a crow that was "cawing" five (5) times. Then, to my amazement, I heard another crow, much farther away respond in kind, also five (5) times. The "Caws" would alternate, sometimes only three (3) or four (4) times, and always returned from a distant, corresponding number of responses/caws.
That was when I realized that they were communicating. And this puzzled me. Since crows are often carrion creatures, and 'compete' for resources, I wondered why they were communicating with each other. My only conclusion is that they are not, in fact, "competing" for resources, but rather share resources through a previously unknown hierarchy.
I have always known that Crows are "intelligent" beyond what has been previously prescribed to them... But this morning's observations have piqued my interest.
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What amazing birds. They have funerals? That's just incredible. I knew they were intelligent and recognised faces, but there's a lot more to them than I ever knew
I had no idea either, before I started researching this last week. And to think they're mostly thought of as nuisance birds...
Caveat: Living in the Greater Seattle Area, Cascade-Fairwood (Sub-Urban) neighborhood:
This morning (2024-Jul-20th; around 05:30) because my bedroom window was open, I was awoken by a crow that was "cawing" five (5) times. Then, to my amazement, I heard another crow, much farther away respond in kind, also five (5) times. The "Caws" would alternate, sometimes only three (3) or four (4) times, and always returned from a distant, corresponding number of responses/caws.
That was when I realized that they were communicating. And this puzzled me. Since crows are often carrion creatures, and 'compete' for resources, I wondered why they were communicating with each other. My only conclusion is that they are not, in fact, "competing" for resources, but rather share resources through a previously unknown hierarchy.
I have always known that Crows are "intelligent" beyond what has been previously prescribed to them... But this morning's observations have piqued my interest.
~ Daniel W. Finney, CHt
(Renton, WA, USA)