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The crow has been the subject of many myths, legends, and horror stories, leaving them with the stigma of being something dark, mysterious, and foreboding. In some cultures, the crow is considered the harbinger of death, meaning that when a crow caws, there is going to be a death nearby.
But do they really deserve this terrible reputation?
There are many facts about crows that you may find surprising, and they are guaranteed to change the way you think about these large blackbirds.
Instead of seeing them as a messenger of evil, you will learn that as there are various types of crows, they are in fact incredibly intelligent creatures that certainly are not how they are portrayed in stories handed down through the centuries.
Awesome Crow Facts
Crows and Ravens
There are 40 species of crows, including ravens and jackdaws which belong to the same genus, the Corvus genus. The larger-bodied birds that have shaggy feathers around their necks are typically referred to as ravens.
The mid-sized birds are the crows, and the smallest of the species are known as jackdaws. There is another bird that is closely related, the rook.
Raising Families
In a family of crows, it is not just the parents that raise the newborn chicks. The older siblings also play a part in taking care of the chicks, which is uncommon among other species of birds. The American crow mates for life, and will spend its time living as a pair, and sometimes they will stick together in small family groups.
When winter comes, the crows gather with hundreds and sometimes even thousands, of other crows, and they sleep huddled together to keep warm. This is referred to as a roost.
During the nesting season, the sibling birds will defend the nest of chicks against predators. They will also bring food to the parent crows or sometimes feed the baby chicks directly. In some cases, the younger birds will become long-term nesting assistants, staying to help the parent birds for more than five years.
A Crow Funeral
When a crow dies, a mob of a hundred or more crows will gather at the site of the dead crow.
They seldom touch the dead bird, and they definitely don’t scavenge the body for food. It is believed that this gathering at the body of a dead crow is a fact-finding mission or a survival strategy.
They are learning what threats may be around. Afterward, the crow will be very hesitant to return to an area where a crow has died, even if there is an abundance of food there.
Crow Blackouts
Remarkably, crows have been known to cause electricity blackouts in Japan. The population of crows in Japan has grown substantially in the last twenty years, and the amount of garbage being dumped by humans has also increased.
Therefore there is a plentiful supply of food for the crows. The problem with the electricity comes from the habit of crows nesting on transformers. They also like to gather wire hangers or fiberoptic cables to build their nests with. Incredibly, in the two years between 2006 and 2008, crows were responsible for stealing nearly 1400 fiberoptic cables from power providers.
One of the electric companies claims that crows are responsible for up to 100 power failures each year just in their facilities. To try and counteract this problem, the power company began installing ‘love nests’, artificial nests made from non-conductive resin.
These love nests were installed on towers that are high above the power lines. So far, this strategy has worked very well.
Smarter Than You Would Think
There is a reason some zoologists have referred to crows as ‘feathered apes’…this is because of their apparent high level of intelligence.
The brain may seem small, but when it is measured relative to the crow’s body size, it is actually huge. The level of cognition of crows is almost equal to great apes.
Language and Dialect
Crows can emit a number of sounds and noises, and each one has its own meaning. Different sounds are used to send out a warning or to let another crow know where they are. An ornithologist noted that crows and ravens use different sounds depending on where they are, almost like a dialect used by humans.
In other words, if the bird changes its social group and moves to another area, the sounds will change to suit and allow the bird to fit in. They pick up the dialect by mimicking the other crows.
Crows and Traffic
An observation in Japan was made where the crow would use the vehicles on the road for its own purposes. Crows were known to carry a walnut to a road intersection and leave it on the pavement. Then it would sit and wait for a car to go past and crush the nut so it would then be easier for the crow to eat.
You would think the crows would get run over, but remarkably, they seem to understand how traffic lights work.
The crows will wait until the light turns red before placing the walnut on the road. Once the light turns green, the crow flies to a safer spot to wait for the walnut to be crushed. Then, when the light turns red again, it will scoop up the crushed nut. This type of behavior has also been witnessed in California.
Facial Recognition
A fascinating scientific study was undertaken in 2011 by a team from the University of Washington to test the theory that crows could recognize faces. To do the study they purchased two masks, one that looked like Dick Cheney and one that looked like a caveman. They then went to five different sites to test out the masks.
At each site, the scientist, wearing the caveman mask, would catch and band some of the wild crows. When the birds were released, they loudly voiced their disdain with a threatening sounding caw. Other nearby birds responded, and swooped down on the scientist wearing the mask.
Over the next several years, the scientists would regularly walk through the five areas wearing both of the masks. Each time, the one wearing the caveman mask was dive-bombed and squawked at, but the one wearing the Dick Cheney mask was left alone.
This behavior continued for five years, and amazingly, some of the birds were not even born when the first stage of the experiment was undertaken. This meant that the grudge against the caveman mask was passed on through the generations of birds.
Tool Making Crows
One particular crow, the New Caledonian crow, is one of only two species that can make its own hooks. The other species is of course humans. The crow makes the hooks out of pliable twigs that are bent using their feet and beaks into a j shape, and they use the hook to get insects out of tight cracks and crevices.
The New Caledonian crow also has an unusual bill. Usually, the bill curves downwards, but this bird’s beak doesn’t. Scientists believe this is so they can hold and use the tool more easily.
Ganging Up on Predators
When there is a predator around, the crows will gang up with each other to ward them off.
There can be more than a dozen of crows in a group, and individuals swoop down on the predator to attack them with their beaks.
Patience and Impulse Control
A study done in 2014 showed that some species of crow can resist instant gratification if it is worth their while. For the study, they worked out what the favorite foods were of twelve crows.
They then offered that food to the crow, but at the same time showed them different food. With practice, they were able to teach the crow that they could swap the foods but only if they were prepared to sit and wait for a while first.
The study showed that the crows were willing to wait for a better snack option rather than going for the first one offered. A good example was a crow being given a piece of bread, but the second choice was a bit of fried pork fat, a much better option.
The bird would happily wait and swap for the tastier pork fat. But, if the crow was shown another piece of bread as the second option, it simply ate the first piece of bread because there was nothing better to trade up for.
Murder of Crows
When there is a group of crows, it is called a murder. It’s uncertain where this name came from, but it is assumed it is due to the bad reputation the crows used to have in history.
Others believe it is due to the harsh cawing sound the crows make. Either way, it doesn’t help the public’s perspective of the crow, and so many think it’s time to come up with a new name.
Crows – Good or Bad?
Now that you know a lot more about these remarkable birds, do you still think they deserve their bad name?
If you come across a crow, sit and watch it for a while. You may be really surprised by what you see.
