Last month, I talked about ravens as one of the villains of Hitchcock’s movie The Birds. Hitchcock had used swarming ravens and gulls to terrorize Bodega Bay, a quiet California coastal town. This month I’m switching gears and coming to the defense of ravens and their relatives, the Corvids as not being all bad. Birds in general score dismally on animal IQ tests (think ‘Bird Brains’), but ravens and the Corvid family in general, are an exception to this perception. Worldwide, there are approximately 130 species in the Corvid family, which includes crows and ravens, magpies and jays, nutcrackers, rooks and jackdaws as well as treepies and choughs. The largest genus is Corvus, which contains almost half of the total Corvid family, and which consists of crows and ravens. Birds in the Corvid family are highly intelligent and well-known for their ability to solve problems and to think ‘outside of the box’ to project likely outcomes by using their intelligence.
For example, ravens have been known to add rocks to a partially-water-filled bucket to raise the water level sufficiently to facilitate drinking, a thought process well beyond ‘bird brain’ thinking. In ice-bound regions, ravens have been found to retrieve unattended fishing lines in ice holes, by pulling on the fishing line, securing it with their feet and repeating the process until the hook is revealed together with any hooked fish, which the raven then eats. Other ravens have been observed ferrying dry food such as crackers and bread to a puddle or pond where they are deposited to soak until they are soft enough to eat easily. Cleverness in corvids seems endless, and one crow was observed placing nuts on a pedestrian crosswalk, watching the passing cars crack the nuts and then waiting for a red light before venturing down to retrieve and eat the nuts safely.
Corvids are found in some of the harshest environments on Earth, where survival is dependent upon high intelligence and better adaptation. In addition, many corvid species live in large family groups, demonstrating high social complexities. Studies have shown corvid cognitive abilities to be on a par with great apes, and both corvids and great apes have evolved the ability to make geometrical measurements and to perform simple counting.
Some corvids have developed the ability to make and use tools, such as barbed sticks to retrieve grubs or other food from pipes or other less-accessible places. New Caledonian Crows have also learned to construct their own tools by using their bills to bend wire into hooks, which are then used to retrieve food items from tight spaces. Corvids also have exceptional memories, remembering where they have hidden food, and in the case of perishable items, for how long it’s been stored.
So, you might want to avoid crows and ravens in Bodega Bay and other places where Hitchcock ventured, but at least you should recognize and give them credit for flaunting the ‘bird brain’ moniker.
If you have questions or comments about SaddleBrooke’s birds, or to receive emailed information about birds from Bob and Prudy, call (520) 330-0366 or email bobandpru@gmail.com. Previously published articles can be found at birdingthebrookeandbeyond.com.
Plans floated to reopen San Manuel Mine as part of regional copper development
