One time a <i>raven</i> of all things fell down my chimney and was perched on a ledge interior to the chimney above the fireplace. I got a call about it early in the day asking me to come home and deal with it, but I couldn't get away, so I said I'd deal with it when I got home.<p>It spent the next several hours trying fruitlessly to fly back up the chimney. Its wings were too large to spread, so it only got about half way up before slowly sliding back down. When it wasn't trying to escape, it was making scary pissed-off raven noises.<p>I ended up having to lay down face up in the fireplace and reach up with gloves (and my arms wrapped in towels) to grab the bird, get up, and walk it outside. It was mortified and tried to fly away before I got to the door, but was disoriented and flew into a wall instead. I think it was too stunned to resist at that point, and so I picked it up and brought it outside. After a few moments it flew up into the Japanese maple in my front yard.<p>There were some crows in this same tree that observed the whole escapade and decided to start caw-caw-cawing at me. <i>And then for the next month they kept doing it.</i> Turns out that yelling at them that I had saved one of them and that it was my tree anyway didn't actually succeed in shutting them up.
I had a breeding pair of peregrine falcons living over my porch and there are also many crows that live nearby. One day the falcons had caught and partially eaten a crow who managed to escape the nest and make it to the ground. Every single crow within at least a mile radius (probably close to a hundred) showed up and some of them tried to fight with the falcons. They were loud and quite agitated for a couple of hours. For the rest of the time while the falcons were nesting I stopped feeding the crows peanuts because they steered clear of the area, as soon as the falcons left they showed up again.<p>Crows are amazing creatures.
Is there an animal that does not fear death? I mean, try to swat a fly. Bees will swarm and attack if one of their swarm is killed or injured--it releases a pheromone. Or look at how a dog or cat responds and develops under abuse. They know what a threat is, and avoid it, which implies an aversion to death.<p>I'm continuously surprised at what researchers are surprised by, when it comes to animal behavior. Once it became obvious that we are ourselves animals, the default hypothesis should be that everything we experience, other animals experience as well; that we are indicative examples of a consistent set. Then we could look for differences.<p>Instead, the presumption is that animals experience none of the inner life that we do. IMO this goes back to religious and cultural beliefs from Europe, not from any scientific basis. Other cultures don't think this way. If you told a Native American or Tibetan Buddhist that crows are aware of death and perceive their surroundings, they would probably say "yes, of course."
Recently, I noticed a juvenile crow that had been hit by a car in San Francisco, it was limping and unable to fly.<p>There were two crows near by that kept an eye on it. When I grabbed the injured crow and took it to my car [1] to deliver to a wildlife hospital [2], the two crows followed me to my car and called out. It was really intense. I felt bad for taking the crow away, but had hoped that I would be able to help it.<p>Ultimately the crows injuries were too bad to care for and the wildlife center [1] had to put it to sleep :(<p>It was pretty amazing to see the crows' behavior. They really seemed upset/concerned when I collected the injured juvenile, it seemed like sincere empathy which is something that's amazing to observe in non-humans. Heck, it's amazing to observe in humans :P<p>If you're in the bay area and find injured wildlife, please get in touch with the Lindsay.<p>[1] <a href="https://instagram.com/p/3O6ymkm5-9/" rel="nofollow">https://instagram.com/p/3O6ymkm5-9/</a><p>[2] <a href="http://lindsaywildlife.org/" rel="nofollow">http://lindsaywildlife.org/</a>
Crows went into my mechanics shop, got up on a toolbox and stole a recently opened bag of in-shell sunflower seeds, without being seen, and had a sunflower seed-opening party in the back parking lot. (I arrived to pick up a vehicle to find the bag of nuts on the ground next to it and hundreds of empty shells all over the area, and the service writer laughing at finding someone's snack being snacked on elsewhere.)<p>Whether that implies some crows are smart or I should find another mechanic, is debatable.
Crows are interesting creatures. Liked this story from not long ago too.
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31604026" rel="nofollow">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31604026</a>
Crows have the mobbing behavior when one of them is attacked by a house cat, see: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRdm8JS3qpo" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRdm8JS3qpo</a><p>(hours of interesting "cat vs. bear/hawk/crow/snake/alligator/etc." videos available).<p>Maybe they are responding to a crow immobilized by another creature instead of recognizing a dead one.
It's breeding season for magpies here (Australia) at the moment. So you're likely to get swooped expectantly. Recent studies have shown they recognise specific people they consider a threat and will swoop them year after year.<p>I remember as a kid watching our cat running from the shed up the back across the yard to the house. He was hunkered down, going like a bullet as a magpie dive-bombed him three times.
Artist group Chim↑Pom also use this mobbing behaviour to perform ... some kind of statement.<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iOmEKbCSGs" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iOmEKbCSGs</a>
Whilst on the bus earlier this week I was waiting for it to depart when I heard a loud thud on the roof. Shortly afterwards I heard another thud. It turned out that a crow had a large seed in its mouth, seemed to be a plum seed, and was dive-bombing the roof of the bus in an attempt to crack it. It succeeded on the third attempt.<p>They really are wonderful.
Also see this documentary <i>A Murder of Crows</i>:<p><a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/a-murder-of-crows-full-episode/5977/" rel="nofollow">http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/a-murder-of-crows-full-episod...</a>
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't take anything from the lady with the creepy mask holding a dead crow, either. Might make a good album cover for the right kind of band, though.