Why did it take me so long to discover what may be the best web post about crows I’ve ever read? I blame Charlie Sheen. What is even more terrifying is that the link takes you to Cracked. com. I may have to quit blogging…
Mike is a leading authority in the field of standardized test preparation, but he's also a traveler who fully expects to see every bird in the world. Besides founding 10,000 Birds in 2003, Mike has also created a number of other entertaining but now extirpated nature blog resources, particularly the Nature Blog Network and I and the Bird.
Their intelligence goes even further, and researchers have shown that Ravens master a feat that even 6 to 7 year old (human) children usually can’t accomplish: they can analyze what someone else knows / can know and act accordingly. For example: if they are hiding food and another Raven is watching them, they will wait until the other Raven is gone and then hide the food somewhere else. I don’t remember the details and it goes much further, but it was just incredible to watch ravens do something that young school children can’t.
I’ve seen them do that trick using cars to crack nut shells. The entrance to our neighborhood is lined with pecan trees. The crows pick the ripe nuts off the top branches, drop them in the street, then chow down after the cars break them open. The street is then stained with blobs of pecan oil.