Do Crows Have Counting Abilities?

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In summary: Why can't we have...both?In summary, the crows and kitten in this video appear to have formed a bond, which is unusual given that crows and kittens are natural enemies. The crow seems to be taking advantage of the kitten, which may explain the kitten's aggressive behavior.
  • #1
Math Is Hard
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I don't think I've ever seen anything like this:

 
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  • #2
Math Is Hard said:
I don't think I've ever seen anything like this:



Crows are cheeky sods, mom has one that will come to the door demanding food, benji can walk right up to it.
 
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  • #3
Does he ring the doorbell?
 
  • #4
Hahaha, that was so great! I always like stories like these.
 
  • #5
I was a little worried when I saw them wrestling! That could have easily gotten out of hand.
 
  • #6
MathIsHard has a softest spot. :biggrin: That was really sweet.
 
  • #7
Moe the crow rules! I loved that clip, thanks for posting it.
 
  • #8
Most excellent! Now that's a cat that has something to crow about.
 
  • #9
Math Is Hard said:
I was a little worried when I saw them wrestling! That could have easily gotten out of hand.

Same here. That's almost a Baby Huey situation.

Most excellent! Now that's a cat that has something to crow about.
:rolleyes:
 
  • #10
Lol. That clip was really funny. I thought it was most amazing that the crow was actually feeding the cat.

I would like to see what happens when the cat is full grown.
 
  • #13
Math Jeans said:
Talk about a smack in the face.
Well, the crow and kitten stand a much better chance in someone's backyard in the suburbs. Maybe they will fare better than the lamb and the lion.

What is it that makes these pairings cute anyhow? My fuzzy gene seems to be broken.
 
  • #14
Huckleberry said:
What is it that makes these pairings cute anyhow? My fuzzy gene seems to be broken.

I just think they're interesting because they are rare. There doesn't seem to be any reason for the crow to take this kind of an interest in the kitten, so it makes you wonder why something like this would happen.
 
  • #15
Math Is Hard said:
I just think they're interesting because they are rare. There doesn't seem to be any reason for the crow to take this kind of an interest in the kitten, so it makes you wonder why something like this would happen.
Also they are considered "natural enemies," species-wise (e.g. cat & bird).

I think these situations humanize the animals involved, and can either justify one's belief and hope that biology need not be destiny, or challenge one's belief and hope that biology is destiny.

Either way, they pique our interest.
 
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  • #16
I can't wait to see it!
 
  • #17
Huckleberry said:
Well, the crow and kitten stand a much better chance in someone's backyard in the suburbs. Maybe they will fare better than the lamb and the lion.

What is it that makes these pairings cute anyhow? My fuzzy gene seems to be broken.

I'm with you... Clearly this crow is crying out for a suicide intervention! I didn't realize that crows even had suicidal thoughts until now.
 
  • #18
Math Is Hard said:
I just think they're interesting because they are rare. There doesn't seem to be any reason for the crow to take this kind of an interest in the kitten, so it makes you wonder why something like this would happen.
I am curious about this also. I remember my psychology of personality professor saying that animals do not have emotions. I immediately assumed he had never befriended a pet. Didn't people at one time look at other people from 'uncivilized' cultures as animals? It was often the practice to treat them as such. So how can we gauge the possible emotional response of an animal such as a crow, especially in situations like this? Is it some haywire, but completely natural instinct; or is this a display of intentional compassion and perhaps moral behaviour?

I hope not. I don't want to be a vegetarian. That would give a whole new meaning to eating crow.
 
  • #19
This is very interesting. An avian adopting a mammal. Quite strange.
 
  • #20
Thats really sweet. I saw this a while back. I love crows since they are very intelligent animals and there's a pair that nest in a tree outside my window that have lived in the area for years. It was good seeing them rear a chick the year before last. I hope they have another this year and I wish they liked me enough to be friends with me and my cat (although I don't think Rosie would be as good with the crows).
 
  • #21
I loved it! Especially when the kitten tackled the crow and kicked it with its hind legs.

Thanks MIH!
 
  • #22
Friends?! I think that crow was taking complete advantage of the kitten, pecking at him, bullying him around, stealing his food, etc., it's no wonder the kitten finally got annoyed and pounced the crow! :biggrin:
 
  • #23
:eek: Did you sacrifice yourself in place of Tom Mattson MIH?

Why can't we have both?
 
  • #24
Crows are gregarious, though this one is a bit of a risk-taker. If you have crows around your place and want to lure them into photograph them, invert a small paper bag on your lawn with a rock or two to anchor it, with circles drawn on the bag to simulate owl eyes. It works! It takes a bit of time, but eventually, their curiosity gets the better of them.
 
  • #25
turbo-1 said:
Crows are gregarious, though this one is a bit of a risk-taker. If you have crows around your place and want to lure them into photograph them, invert a small paper bag on your lawn with a rock or two to anchor it, with circles drawn on the bag to simulate owl eyes. It works! It takes a bit of time, but eventually, their curiosity gets the better of them.

lol, doomed by their own intelligence.
 
  • #26
turbo-1 said:
Crows are gregarious, though this one is a bit of a risk-taker. If you have crows around your place and want to lure them into photograph them, invert a small paper bag on your lawn with a rock or two to anchor it, with circles drawn on the bag to simulate owl eyes. It works! It takes a bit of time, but eventually, their curiosity gets the better of them.

Yes, they are very clever. This particular crow was intelligent enough to remove a species from it's list of predators by domesticating them. Sure, the plan for domestication is only in its beginning phases, but in a few generation it may be world-wide. Then crows will begin worm farms and agriculture powered by cat drawn plows. Then it is inevitible that they create a system of barter leading to the concept of money. They will declare themselves Crows; beings separate from other animals, and philosophize about what it means to be a Crow. They begin governments based on these philosophies and petition the UN for a Crow version of 'human' rights.

But it all comes to an end when a Crow is murdered by an owl in a Walmart parking lot. The Crows demand that phony owls be removed from all public areas. The Crows strongarm the UN with Alfred Hitchcock shorts from the movie 'Birds." Negotiations with the UN fail and the Crows begin a campaign of carpet bombing our cities. The war escalates into total pet revolution. Without our pets, civilization eventually collapses.

Never trust a crow.
 
  • #27
One small problem: to sufficiently accommodate the diets of certain crows, cats need to be trained in the use of tools. New Caledonian crows use sophisticated tools of two varieties: hooked sticks and barbed leafs for insect fishing expeditions into tree branches.

Laboratory experiments confirm that cats probably lack the causal reasoning abilities necessary to be trained on such tasks, so the only plausible next step is for crows to begin designing robots. I am not unconvinced that such a project is going on in my back yard.
 
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  • #28
Huckleberry said:
I am curious about this also. I remember my psychology of personality professor saying that animals do not have emotions.
Statements like this are very strange to me (but I hear them often). If you ask the psychology professor where emotions arise, he/she will certainly say the limbic system. but if you press and ask him/her if humans are the only animals with a limbic system, then of course, he/she will say that's ridiculous.
 
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  • #29
When I was a kid, there was a crow stuck in some bushes near my house. When I tried to go towards it, I was ambushed by another crow that was apparently protecting it. I always found that fascinating.

Here's another interesting crow video: A crow crossing the street.
 
  • #30
morphism said:
When I was a kid, there was a crow stuck in some bushes near my house. When I tried to go towards it, I was ambushed by another crow that was apparently protecting it. I always found that fascinating.

Here's another interesting crow video: A crow crossing the street.

This is interesting. It's not just a crow crossing the street. They are using automobiles to crack nuts that they cannot crack themselves. They drop them in crosswalks and when the cars stop at a red light the crows retrieve their nuts. I wonder how long it will be before they realize that pressing the button makes the light turn red.

Crows also have the intelligence to make their own tools. Here is an example of some crow problem solving abilities. It uses an instrument as a tool, and when that tool is insufficient it modifies the design.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03ykewnc0oE&NR=1

Yep, crowbots aren't far behind.
 
  • #32
Huckleberry said:
This is interesting. It's not just a crow crossing the street. They are using automobiles to crack nuts that they cannot crack themselves. They drop them in crosswalks and when the cars stop at a red light the crows retrieve their nuts. I wonder how long it will be before they realize that pressing the button makes the light turn red.

Crows also have the intelligence to make their own tools. Here is an example of some crow problem solving abilities. It uses an instrument as a tool, and when that tool is insufficient it modifies the design.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03ykewnc0oE&NR=1

Yep, crowbots aren't far behind.

About as long as it takes them to learn how to make a phone call: Bird Brains (somewhere around the middle of the article).

I like how vultures in Zimbabwe obtain food better, though: Mmmm, gazelleburgers!

During the war of liberation in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, a soldier and avid bird watcher observed vultures sitting on barbwire fences next to mine fields waiting for gazelles and other herbivores to wander in and get blown to smithereens.

"It gave them a meal that was already ground up," said Dr Lefebvre.

"The observer mentioned that once in a while a vulture was caught at its own game and got blown up on a mine."

(I wanted to find an article on crow's abilities with numbers, but wouldn't you know it - someone had to call their band "Counting Crows")
 
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1. Do crows have the ability to count?

Yes, studies have shown that crows have the ability to count. They have been observed to accurately count up to 6 items and can even differentiate between different quantities.

2. How do crows count?

Crows count by using a process called "subitizing", where they can quickly and accurately recognize small quantities without actually counting them one by one. They do this by using their visual perception to group objects into smaller quantities.

3. Can crows count objects that are hidden or out of sight?

Yes, crows have been shown to have a sense of object permanence, meaning they can understand that objects still exist even when they are not in their direct line of sight. This allows them to count objects that are hidden or out of sight.

4. Do crows have better counting abilities than other animals?

Crows are known for their intelligence and have been shown to have better counting abilities compared to other animals. However, some other species such as parrots and primates have also been shown to have counting abilities.

5. How do crows use their counting abilities in the wild?

Crows use their counting abilities in the wild for a variety of purposes, such as keeping track of their food sources, recognizing potential threats or predators, and communicating with other crows. They have also been observed using their counting abilities to solve complex problems and puzzles in order to obtain food.

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