Introduction to crows

Crows refer to some species of crows. The whole body or most of the feathers are black, commonly known as "crows".

The bald-nosed crow is the most common species in the vast rural areas of our country. Its feathers are black and shiny, with purple metallic flashes. The beak is long and thick, with a bare base and no feathers covering the nostrils, so it is called a bald-nosed crow.

In winter, bald-nosed crows often mix with other crows, flying in groups of hundreds or thousands, making a rough hoarse sound of "wow-wow-", which makes people feel desolate. It is also boring, so it is considered an unlucky bird.

Bald-nosed crows build nests in groups on tall trees. There can be as many as 30 nests in one tree, and there are records of up to 1,200 nests abroad. Nesting materials are collected by the male bird, and the male and female birds build the nest together. The nest is relatively rough and shaped like a basket. Each nest lays 5 to 6 eggs. The eggs are incubated by the female bird. The incubation period is 16 to 18 days. After the young birds emerge from the shell, they are nursed by both parents together for 29 days. --Flies out of the nest in 30 days and looks for food on its own.

In spring, rooks often gather in large groups and peck at sown corn. Sorghum and peanuts are also harmful to seedlings; but from May to July, as the number of bugs increases, they mainly eat agricultural pests and carry them back to their nests to feed young birds; in the autumn when the harvest period begins, crows are There is also some damage to crops; after the autumn harvest and throughout the winter, they peck at grains scattered in the fields as well as underground pests.

In addition to the rook, white-necked crows, jackdaws and small-billed crows are also common.

Crows are more intelligent than gorillas and are good at guessing other people’s intentions

A new study proves that crows’ perceptual abilities are comparable to those of primates and comparable to those of chimpanzees and gorillas. In comparison, their "intelligence" is not inferior. This research report was jointly completed by two researchers from the Department of Animal Behavior and Experimental Psychology at the University of Cambridge in the UK, and was published in the December 10 issue of Science.

Crows are smarter than we know.

Birds stand on ant nests and let angry opponents spray formic acid onto them. Birds stained with formic acid can use this "natural insecticide" to kill parasites on their bodies. .

Crows that live in urban areas and feed on carrion are accustomed to using the vehicles traveling on the road to crack nuts for them. When the pedestrians disperse, they pick up the broken fruits and eat them deliciously. Last meal.

In the world of birds, crows, ravens, corvids and other members of the Corvidae family are not "dumb birds without intelligence". On the contrary, they are generally regarded as "smart" animals. . It seems that humans have this impression of crows for a long time. Even in "Aesop's Fables", there is a story about "crows drinking water".

Today, scientists’ research proves that crows are smarter than humans thought. A new study proves that crows' sensory abilities are comparable to those of primates, and their "intelligence" is comparable to that of chimpanzees and gorillas. This research report was jointly completed by two researchers from the Department of Animal Behavior and Experimental Psychology at the University of Cambridge in the UK, and was published in the December 10 issue of Science.

Small in body but very developed in brain.

Crows have rather large brains compared to their bodies. Researchers Emily and Clayton wrote in the report: "Their (crows) brain volume is very large compared to their body size, which is similar to that of chimpanzees."

Scientists in The report points out that although the brain structures of crows and primates are very different, they both use a combination of tools to solve similar problems and are able to imagine and predict possible future events, and all these arguments are based on based on existing research.

In order to enjoy the food, the crow used tools.

“These studies have found that in terms of intelligence, crows are not only the masters of birds (except perhaps some parrots), but their intelligence level is even as good as that of some primates.” Emily and Clayton Think so.

Scientists have experiments to prove it. They kept crows in a cage in the laboratory. There was a narrow-mouth bottle inside, and inside the bottle was a small iron bucket with a lifting ring, which contained delicious food. The crows cannot eat the food directly, but there are two wires of moderate thickness in the cage, one is straight and the other has a hook at one end.

An amazing thing happened. After a period of time, the crows learned to use the hooked wire to lift the iron bucket and eat the food inside. What's even more interesting is that in the fifth experiment, the scientists left only a straight wire and no curved wire. At this time, the crow used the support of the floor to bend the wire into a hook shape with its feet, then held the wire in its mouth to lift the small iron bucket out of the bottle, and happily enjoyed its lunch.

Shocking new discovery: 'New Scottish crows' can make tools!

In the opinion of previous researchers, crows and gorillas are using complex methods to "think" about the social and natural environments in which they live. It is not certain whether chimpanzees and crows can understand the use of tools. How it works, maybe they just occasionally find those tools useful.

However, after studying the "New Scots crow" in the South Pacific, scientists came to another conclusion, that is, crows do not use tools occasionally, they actually make tools.

New Scots crows make two very different tools in order to find food. They use hooks made from twigs to hook small bugs out of tree holes. They also use their beaks to carefully carve hard leaves. Use it as a sharp tool to rummage through the leaves to find insects.

British ornithologist Jackie Chamber said that this ability to make and use complex tools is very rare in wild animals. Emily and Clayton connected crow craftsmanship to rudimentary human technological inventions. Some scientists have also discovered that different New Scots crows make different tools, and therefore believe that they have certain cultural forms.

Some crows can use past experiences and memories to "guess" about the same species.

Now, more scientists believe that animals becoming more and more intelligent is not a physiological need, but a social need. Group life is a complex matter. In order for individuals to optimize, they need to accurately understand what is going to happen in the world, and animals like dolphins and chimpanzees (including humans) have become large-brained and intelligent animals. New research reveals that crows are such social animals.

Emily and Clayton studied the Western Scrub Jay. Once this bird finds that other birds have hidden food somewhere, they will steal it. Not only that, because they have the experience of stealing food. , Scrub Crows have also learned to guard against theft, and when they want to store food, they will carefully cover it to prevent it from being stolen by other animals.

Experiments conducted in the laboratory have shown that if a "habitual thief" is seen by other birds while burying food, it will secretly return to transfer the food, but ordinary birds will not be so cunning.

Researchers say that these behaviors of western scrub jays show that they can guess the intentions of others. In other words, they can enter the minds of other birds, which also proves that they have the ability to imagine. Emery and Clayton said in the report: "Western scrub jays may have imagination because they need to remember relevant social environments in the past, use their own experience as a thief to guess the behavior of other thieves, and then find the safest place. course of action to protect one's stolen food."

Research on the Western Scrub Jay helps to unravel the mysteries of human intelligence.

Research into similar cognitive abilities in apes has yet to produce any conclusive results, said John Pearce, a psychology expert at Cardiff University in Wales. He said: "The study of the Western Scrub Crow is strong evidence that animals can understand the thoughts of other animals."

Pierce believes that the mystery of the basic mechanism of human intelligence can be revealed through the study of such animals. He said: "Language has always been considered one of the main dividing lines between animal and human intelligence. It is worth noting that Western scrub crows do not have language, and research shows that they have many intellectual abilities that humans have. This illustrates what we used to think Intellectual abilities that require language may not actually require language, which forces us to think about these abilities in a different way."

Scientists also defended the image of the crow.

Scientists believe that associating crows with evil is a injustice to these intelligent birds. In fact, in the world of crows, collective interests come first, and their black feathers represent purity and steadfastness. Crows strictly abide by monogamy and are typical egalitarians. Raising young birds has always been the responsibility of both husband and wife. If we humans were really smart, maybe we should study these old crows better.