Clever Corvids: observe their dead (Introduction)

by David Turell , Saturday, January 09, 2016, 05:26 (3242 days ago) @ David Turell

Crows gather around and observe their dead:-http://www.livescience.com/53283-why-crows-hold-funerals.html?cmpid=NL_LS_weekly_2016-1-08-The researchers went to great lengths to design the "threats" they used to test the crows. They set up feeding areas for urban wild crows and sent trained volunteers to visit, carrying different objects that were carefully selected to test the crows' alarm responses: taxidermy crows arranged in poses suggesting that they were dead, and taxidermy red-tailed hawks, which prey on crows, posed on a branch as though they were still alive.-***-The scientists conducted similar tests with another urban bird, the rock pigeon, and observed that they hardly even noticed when a dead pigeon was paraded in front of them, a dramatic contrast to the organized and negative reaction of the crows to the sight of a fallen comrade. And the crows were similarly unconcerned about the presence of a dead pigeon, reserving their scolding and mobbing for humans accompanying dead crows and suspected predators.-The study results suggest that not only do crows notice and react to the sight of a dead crow, but they also quickly learn to associate danger and threat with humans who appear in close proximity to dead crows, recognizing them as a distinct and different caws for alarm.-Comment: Crows are clever. Nothing more.