maximus otter
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Corvids are not only incredibly intelligent birds, but they even show fascinating behaviour when one of the pack dies.
Corvids, such as crows, rooks and ravens, are some of the smartest animals out there. They can learn to make new sounds, they can cooperate and even use tools. But as Dr Kaeli Swift [says], they also have some intriguing rituals when it comes to their dead… and could even be capable of feeling empathy.
Corvids are a kind of songbird. Corvids, so the Corvidae family, includes crows, ravens, magpies, jays, rooks, jackdaws and choughs. Ravens are the biggest songbird in the world.
For a long time, humans have recognised that these birds respond strongly when one of them dies. And you can see that evidenced in religious text and mythologies.
The way that this strong response manifests in crows is that when a crow dies and is discovered by another, that crow will make an alarm call and it will draw in other crows in the area. They all get together in this big, raucous mob and take notice of this event. And then after about 15 or 20 minutes or so, the group disperses.
If these animals are engaging in this behaviour, it’s something that they have done for tens of thousands of years. There’s a reason. And so what is it? Do they engage in these ‘funerals’ as a way to learn about danger? Some reasons may be just as valid, like are they grieving, but they’re not testable.
So if they saw somebody they’d never seen before holding a dead crow, and then they saw that person again in the future without the dead crow, they would treat them like a predator. So clearly they’re making some kind of connection between danger and dead crows.
We found that any kind of contact between crows and dead crows happens somewhere between 30 and 40 per cent of the time. And that contact can be very variable. Sometimes it was a curious ‘sneak and peck’, where they just kind of prod it like a kid might if they saw a dead bear in the woods.
It could also be incredibly aggressive. They come and really tear these birds to pieces. It didn’t seem to be in pursuit of food, but they would just come and really want to make sure that they were dead.
And then in a minority of cases, about 4 per cent of the time, we found that the behaviours could actually be sexual. So we saw copulatory attempts between living crows and dead crows, and even two instances of a mated pair coming down and simultaneously mating with this dead crow and each other. So it got it got surprising, to say the least!
https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/raven-crow-funerals-intelligence/
maximus otter
Corvids, such as crows, rooks and ravens, are some of the smartest animals out there. They can learn to make new sounds, they can cooperate and even use tools. But as Dr Kaeli Swift [says], they also have some intriguing rituals when it comes to their dead… and could even be capable of feeling empathy.
Corvids are a kind of songbird. Corvids, so the Corvidae family, includes crows, ravens, magpies, jays, rooks, jackdaws and choughs. Ravens are the biggest songbird in the world.
For a long time, humans have recognised that these birds respond strongly when one of them dies. And you can see that evidenced in religious text and mythologies.
The way that this strong response manifests in crows is that when a crow dies and is discovered by another, that crow will make an alarm call and it will draw in other crows in the area. They all get together in this big, raucous mob and take notice of this event. And then after about 15 or 20 minutes or so, the group disperses.
If these animals are engaging in this behaviour, it’s something that they have done for tens of thousands of years. There’s a reason. And so what is it? Do they engage in these ‘funerals’ as a way to learn about danger? Some reasons may be just as valid, like are they grieving, but they’re not testable.
Does any old dead crow cause this effect? Or does it have to be a crow that they are familiar with?
We exclusively tested unfamiliar birds, so it’s still an open question of how their behaviour might be different if it’s a bird they know.You said they see the dead crow as maybe a learning opportunity. But did they ever do anything else? Did they see the dead crow as a food source and try and peck at it?
We…started feeding the crows over the course of several days, and then we exposed them to a person paired with a dead crow. We found that in the following three days they were more wary to come to that pile of food, and they learnt people were associated with dead crows.So if they saw somebody they’d never seen before holding a dead crow, and then they saw that person again in the future without the dead crow, they would treat them like a predator. So clearly they’re making some kind of connection between danger and dead crows.
We found that any kind of contact between crows and dead crows happens somewhere between 30 and 40 per cent of the time. And that contact can be very variable. Sometimes it was a curious ‘sneak and peck’, where they just kind of prod it like a kid might if they saw a dead bear in the woods.
It could also be incredibly aggressive. They come and really tear these birds to pieces. It didn’t seem to be in pursuit of food, but they would just come and really want to make sure that they were dead.
And then in a minority of cases, about 4 per cent of the time, we found that the behaviours could actually be sexual. So we saw copulatory attempts between living crows and dead crows, and even two instances of a mated pair coming down and simultaneously mating with this dead crow and each other. So it got it got surprising, to say the least!
https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/raven-crow-funerals-intelligence/
maximus otter