Thursday, June 15, 2006

My favorite corvids


Crows.

I know, I know. A lot of folks hate them or fear them. They complain that crows are noisy and unmusical.

But I love crows. They fascinate me.

Those lovely dark feathers. Their family groups. Their intelligence.

Intelligence? Oh, yes!

If you have not yet seen the film of a crow making a tool from a piece of straight wire in order to retrieve some food, read this brief synopsis from Science Magazine and click on the link for the film. It's amazing.

And check out this article from National Geographic News, which talks about a study that says they may be as smart as great apes.

To find all kinds of information about crows and useful links, click here to go to For the Love of Crows, which is also where I found the clip art above.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Jan!

I like crows too. That video is cool!

In the fall, vast flocks of them just take over the skies up here in the Sacto area, and it's just surreal. Probably make a good cover for a mystery novel..wink wink..

They do have personalities! Yesterday one of my neighbors had the sprinklers going full blast and a big puddle had gathered. One crow was splashing around, having ever so much fun. I was quite envious.

I'm enjoying your blog, so be aware that we're keeping an eye on you up here!

Jan Burke said...

Elaine, how the heck are you? Hope you are staying out of the heat up there.

I should have guessed that you'd be a lover of crows, too.

West Nile virus really had a terrible impact on our local population of crows. But now it seems the survivors are still hanging in there.

I will have to turn the sprinkler on for them!

Jan

Jan Burke said...

PS -- Love the idea for the cover art.

I must come up that way to see it for myself in the fall, right?

Anonymous said...

Yes, you totally should visit here...appropriately enough, Halloween seems to bring out big flocks of them. There's always a guest room in Woodland for you, ma'am.

zeebyrd said...

Thanks for the link to my website. Sorry its taken me so long to get here. Life caws, ya know! ;) Nice to see a fellow crow lover.

I've told my crow lover friends about your website. And, I will be sure to come back and visit this evening.

Hearty caws!