Sunday, August 29, 2010

Man, crows have brain

Documentaries about animals being used for medical tests have always thrust a sense of guilt in me as a human being.
I love animals, birds and all natural creations, like a rose, butterfly or that chubby girl.
Just started reading a book “10 Questions Science Can't Answer (Yet)” by Michael Hanlon. Awesome boss. Some points he has argued in defence of animals can leave anti-animal humans defenceless.
There is an example about crows’ intelligence.
In the BBC television series Life of Birds, a footage was shown in which crows in Japan dropped hard-shelled nuts onto the road at a pedestrian crossing. After waiting first for the nut to be cracked open by a passing car and then for the traffic to be stopped when a pedestrian pushed the button, the crows would land to retrieve their nuts.
There is another story also about crow’s brainpower.
A crow called Betty starred in Science2 magazine after she had learned to fashion a hook out of a piece of wire and use this tool to fish food out of a glass pipe. That took scientists aback as this level of tool making skill has never been observed even in chimpanzees.
I stop here to save your time. Will continue this post later.

17 comments:

  1. The stories about the crow are truly amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow really .. but then every animal i guess is intelligent they all got brains and are good at what they do. They survive in the wild better then WE human would.

    these documentaries are so nice i once saw this documentary on wild buffaloes, how they make a strategy by body language if under attack from a lion or tiger...

    They use the flanks and get the youngones in the middle , the older ones in rear and the stronger ones move forward its really astonishing

    and i love the animal documentaries ..
    Looking forwrd to the rest of the post...

    ReplyDelete
  3. yes i had also read few years back on how crows can make and use tools.
    after reading the japanese incident, perhaps the thirsty crow tale is true after all:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. crows with brains!!! I hate crows... so after apes... with the next evolution process start with crows ... eeeeeee :P

    ReplyDelete
  5. crows do caww caww that why I dnt like them :P
    ohh btw i stay in chennai, going to my hometown in assam :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Interesting!
    Animal behavior is definitely fascinating..

    ReplyDelete
  7. hmmm....the thirsty crow tale was not just a fable...,,,btw..a great post. this time missed the jokes that you post at the end.!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. That is really interesting! Please do write more about this...but I didn't know crows had such intelligence. Good post, Ramesh:-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. boss..

    remembering writer sujatha's words:

    "scientists nvr have to dream of the heaven.."

    ReplyDelete
  10. Amazing ....I never knew crows are brainy. I think they are also choosy about food now a days. I always give food to crows and it would be chappathi, dosa and idli. I tried offering rice and they don't even touch :) They need variety.:)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Interesting about the crows. Normally, we like to read about other birds and leave the humble crow and pigeon stories out.

    ReplyDelete
  12. wow...that makes me go like..?????

    ReplyDelete
  13. Nice interesting post about the crows. Waiting to hear more about such brilliant creatures.
    Sorry had been away for a while, trying to catch up with my blogging friends.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Nice. read both your posts abt this issue.. well, what can i say.. everythin has evolved from nature.. and man came from ape..

    But im sure abt one thing. chimpangees wouldn backbite other chimpangees like how humans do. I guess man got that cunningness from the fox. did he get bored of gettin everythin from one animal that he took something else from some other? hmm.. me wonderin..

    ReplyDelete
  15. In Hindu Mythology, crows are your fore- fathers... and, therefore,should be at least half intelligent as you are!
    Even today, many south indian brahmins invite crows(from their balconies or terrace) and offer cooked rice before the food is served to family members.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Very interesting & nice research you've done to put this on post! So much to learn from the animals and birds!!

    ReplyDelete