Are birds as smart as a 7-year-old ?

[Abramelin]

Apparently crows arent too smart, my little Jack Russell with his malformed little legs manages to kill them in my yard. He even got one when he was on a chain....

Using that logic a sprinter is smarter than an invalid, lol.

Btw, many people get killed by dogs too.

[The Mule]

no, you got my logic backwards. If the invalid beats a sprinter (ei, my chained dog with deformed legs vs flying bird) in a race, the sprinter isnt too smart.

[Abramelin]

no, you got my logic backwards. If the invalid beats a sprinter (ei, my chained dog with deformed legs vs flying bird) in a race, the sprinter isnt too smart.

I assumed that your Jack Russell terrier was very fast, even with his deformed legs.

And the crows he caught were most probably inexperienced juvenile crows or even younger ones.

[Abramelin]

I once watched something unbelievable:

A crow wanted to eat the food that was in front of a chained dog on a barnyard.

So he hopped to the dog but stayed out of its reach. Then he walked circles around the pole the dog was chained to, so the chain got wound up and thus shorter and shorter.

Then finally the crow walked calm and relaxed to the food and started eating while the dog was barking his lungs out, lol.

.

Edited August 4, 2012 by Abramelin

[The Mule]

I once watched something unbelievable:

A crow wanted to eat the food that was in front of a chained dog on a barnyard.

So he hopped to the dog but stayed out of its reach. Then he walked circles around the pole the dog was chained to, so the chain got wound up and thus shorter and shorter.

Then finally the crow walked calm and relaxed to the food and started eating while the dog was barking his lungs out, lol.

.

I can see my dog falling for that...

The first one he killed...I have no idea HOW he got it. While he was killing it about a half dozen or so more crows appeared, screeching, cawing, making one hell of a racket, taking turns dive bombing him.....not smart. Thats how he got #2. I didnt check their wingspans but they were both pretty big. Beaks were about an inch and a half long. I wouldnt have wanted to tangle with them. Mrs Mule is under the impression that they're big enough to carry him off, but I would tend to doubt that.

They still hang out in the yard. Screetch like hell at him from the trees when he comes out. Occassionally they try dive bombing him stil. He's no longer on a chain, and he will get more of them. Squirrels, rabbits, rats....all fair game...

[Abramelin]

I always loved Jack Russells and fox terriers. I had a fox terrier and I know they are fanatic small game hunters.

The fox terrier I had (or I should say, my mother had, but he was lots more attached to me than to my mother) was a relaxed dog, but as soon as he saw something small moving in the bushes, he was gone. Like a bullet, lol.

Anyway, this is about bird intelligence, and a crow getting caught by a dog is like a human getting killed when crossing a street: either they are dumb (or drunk), crippled, old, very young, or have slow reflexes.

[Abramelin]

And for those who don't know, I have a blog about corvids:

http://kromakhy.blogspot.nl/

Or the index to that blog:

http://kromakhysiteindex.blogspot.nl/

I once had a link to that blog in my signature, but only 3 links are allowed.

The blog is about myths, legends, stories, superstitions, dreams, science, and so on.

It's on old blog, and I know some will be amazed about the links in the sidebar, heh.

[DKO]

Yes I've noticed ravens do some pretty smart stuff. Dig holes and bury food, drop biscuits in puddles to soften up and eat. A mate of mine is a baker and he told me how each morning when they would trolley out the loaves of bread to the truck, they would have to stay with the bread the whole time because groups of ravens started showing up and getting to the bread if left for unattended for a moment.

This video impressed me. An eagle lands on water like a duck, grabs something floating in the water and then swims to shore.

[SameerPrehistorica]

I agree, we don't give animals enough credit for their intelligence and we give ourselves too much.

well said..

[Abramelin]

Yes I've noticed ravens do some pretty smart stuff. Dig holes and bury food, drop biscuits in puddles to soften up and eat. A mate of mine is a baker and he told me how each morning when they would trolley out the loaves of bread to the truck, they would have to stay with the bread the whole time because groups of ravens started showing up and getting to the bread if left for unattended for a moment.

This video impressed me. An eagle lands on water like a duck, grabs something floating in the water and then swims to shore.

DKO, you'll maybe won't believe it, but after your post about the eagle, I had to think of something I wrote in a post I once made on my blog, and one I can't find anymore.

It was in an old English book about birdwatching, and someone (I think he was from Wales) had seen a crow do something extraordinary.

As you may know there are these small brown birds that live near brooks and dive into the water to catch crayfish and grubs hiding under stones. I forgot their name and that's why I can't find that post.

But then the guy saw a crow do exactly the same: dive into the water and catch these crayfish.

Now that may seem not that special, but a crow is not a duck, and will surely drown if it stayed under for too long. The crow did it several times, so it must have found out what its max time was it could stay submerged without drowning.

Many people have reported seeing birds using sticks to catch grubs in rotting wood, or herons fishing using some sort of bait, and so on. But crows are able to learn from these other birds and animals in general, just by observing them.

I remember I was once sitting on a bench next to some pool, reading a textbook (I was doing a weekend course). I had a break, and sat there for half an hour. Then I saw a heron landing into the pond, but that part of the pond wasn't that deep because there was an underwater plateau (I think to make sure toddlers wouldn't drown when they got into the water by accident).

Now a heron has long legs, but a crow hasn't.

Then I saw this crow on a field next to the pond, watching the heron very concentrated... like he was studying how in god's name the heron could stand in that pond, a pond that for the rest was too deep for any heron to stand in. From where I was sitting you could see the submerged plateau, but not from where the crow was (because of the angle the sunlight struck the pond's surface.

I was thinking: if I were you, I would fly close to that heron (and start catching the critters living in the pond) to be sure you could stand in the pond without drowning.

And that is what the crow did next second! He flew to the heron, and landed a meter or so behind the heron, holding its wings up to not make them wet while landing.

.

Edited August 6, 2012 by Abramelin

[DKO]

DKO, you'll maybe won't believe it, but after your post about the eagle, I had to think of something I wrote in a post I once made on my blog, and one I can't find anymore.

It was in an old English book about birdwatching, and someone (I think he was from Wales) had seen a crow do something extraordinary.

As you may know there are these small brown birds that live near brooks and dive into the water to catch crayfish and grubs hiding under stones. I forgot their name and that's why I can't find that post.

But then the guy saw a crow do exactly the same: dive into the water and catch these crayfish.

Now that may seem not that special, but a crow is not a duck, and will surely drown if it stayed under for too long. The crow did it several times, so it must have found out what its max time was it could stay submerged without drowning.

Many people have reported seeing birds using sticks to catch grubs in rotting wood, or herons fishing using some sort of bait, and so on. But crows are able to learn from these other birds and animals in general, just by observing them.

I remember I was once sitting on a bench next to some pool, reading a textbook (I was doing a weekend course). I had a break, and sat there for half an hour. Then I saw a heron landing into the pond, but that part of the pond wasn't that deep because there was an underwater plateau (I think to make sure toddlers wouldn't drown when they got into the water by accident).

Now a heron has long legs, but a crow hasn't.

Then I saw this crow on a field next to the pond, watching the heron very concentrated... like he was studying how in god's name the heron could stand in that pond, a pond that for the rest was too deep for any heron to stand in. From where I was sitting you could see the submerged plateau, but not from where the crow was (because of the angle the sunlight struck the pond's surface.

I was thinking: if I were you, I would fly close to that heron (and start catching the critters living in the pond) to be sure you could stand in the pond without drowning.

And that is what the crow did next second! He flew to the heron, and landed a meter or so behind the heron, holding its wings up to not make them wet while landing.

.

That's a cool story. Yeah I like watching Crows/Ravens, When I have lunch at work I'm sitting outside and there is usually a raven not far away. You can see them watching what's going on around them and figuring stuff out.

I found this video of a crow catching a fish. Not as special as your story though.

And found this one of a crow that befriends a kitten.

[Abramelin]

Yeah DKO, I love those videos. You can find a ton of them on YouTube, about crows and ravens doing weird and smart stuff.

And of course of pea brains shooting them for sport.