Aesop's fables are actually true?

SUBMAN1 · 08-07-09, 10:13 PM

Noooooooo! I know crows are smart, but this is over the top!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090806/..._aesop_s_crows

-S

PS. More crow trickery revealed:
http://www.sciencemag.org/feature/data/crow/

SteamWake · 08-08-09, 07:10 AM

Yea I saw this yesterday pretty interesting.

Somehow though I think it may at some point be conditioned behaviour. How often would a bird have to do this task in the wild?

Still its fascinating to see a fable come to life.

NeonSamurai · 08-08-09, 08:28 AM

Here is another trick of theirs. They have been known to use traffic lights to open nuts and the like by dropping the nut on the crosswalk where car tires go, then waiting for a car to run it over, and they then further wait until there is a red light before going to fetch their cracked nut.

Here is a similar video of it (though this bird is using a regular intersection).
Couldn't find the vid i was thinking of though.

Oberon · 08-08-09, 08:33 AM

Corvids are very smart buggers.

Quote:

"The brain-to-body weight ratios of corvid brains are among the largest in birds, equal to that of great apes and cetaceans, and only slightly lower than a human"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvidae#Intelligence

Sailor Steve · 08-08-09, 11:17 AM

Pretty amazing stuff!

08-07-09, 10:13 PM	#1
SUBMAN1 Rear Admiral Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 11,866 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Aesop's fables are actually true? Noooooooo! I know crows are smart, but this is over the top! http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090806/..._aesop_s_crows -S PS. More crow trickery revealed: http://www.sciencemag.org/feature/data/crow/ __________________

08-08-09, 07:10 AM	#2
SteamWake Rear Admiral Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 13,224 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Yea I saw this yesterday pretty interesting. Somehow though I think it may at some point be conditioned behaviour. How often would a bird have to do this task in the wild? Still its fascinating to see a fable come to life. __________________ Follow the progress of Mr. Mulligan : http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=147648

08-08-09, 08:28 AM	#3
NeonSamurai Ocean Warrior Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Socialist Republic of Kanadia Posts: 3,044 Downloads: 25 Uploads: 0	Here is another trick of theirs. They have been known to use traffic lights to open nuts and the like by dropping the nut on the crosswalk where car tires go, then waiting for a car to run it over, and they then further wait until there is a red light before going to fetch their cracked nut. Here is a similar video of it (though this bird is using a regular intersection). Couldn't find the vid i was thinking of though. __________________ SH3 Newbie Guide Links and other helpfull stuff

08-08-09, 11:17 AM	#5
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	Pretty amazing stuff! __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo