As predicted, we did get snow today. A pretty substantial fall, if not the two feet they were saying New York could get.
One thing about snowstorms is that they frequently turn the sky bright white, even in the evening. That happened today, making it even easier to see a large murder of crows flying together over the rooftops. Which got me to thinking about how birds like crows handle winter weather like this. Apparently the answer is that this way and that, they do all right. This is nice to know.
Also there was a marabou stork in a bathroom somewhere. Hope everyone knew about that one before they walked in.
2 comments:
A professor in Chicago who's been studying crow behavior for a couple of decades has a number of examples about how intelligent they are. Besides being very good at making tools and solving puzzles to get at food they also have very long memories. Some years ago the professor and his students wore rubber masks when they captured half a dozen crows to study them briefly. The crows didn't enjoy the process. They told their friends and relatives about it and after that whenever someone showed up wearing one of those original masks the birds would scream and mob the wearer. Apparently that continues to happen to this day and nowadays there are many more than the original half dozen. So far we've been lucky they don't have opposable thumbs.
Nice marabou in the bathroom.
I hope the snowfall isn't interfering with getting around.
On another note you might enjoy this little video.
Memory and communication. The little birds are formidable indeed. It has been noted that corvids have complex brains, and if those brains got bigger they could well be the dominant lifeform on the planet. Of course a large brain needs to be supported by a large body, and they have flight instead. Ah well, dominance is overrated anyway. Although I don't mind having opposable thumbs.
When I saw the picture of the marabou, I couldn't resist using it.
We've got snow on the ground, but in most places the sidewalks are shoveled off, making movement easier. Most places. You occasionally get unlucky.
I did like that video. Interesting mix of old animation techniques with au courant subject matter. Steve Cutts, the animator, clearly has a sense of history.
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