
Birds that fear death - tetraodonpuffer
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150930-the-birds-that-fear-death
======
mratzloff
One time a _raven_ of all things fell down my chimney and was perched on a
ledge interior to the chimney above the fireplace. I got a call about it early
in the day asking me to come home and deal with it, but I couldn't get away,
so I said I'd deal with it when I got home.

It spent the next several hours trying fruitlessly to fly back up the chimney.
Its wings were too large to spread, so it only got about half way up before
slowly sliding back down. When it wasn't trying to escape, it was making scary
pissed-off raven noises.

I ended up having to lay down face up in the fireplace and reach up with
gloves (and my arms wrapped in towels) to grab the bird, get up, and walk it
outside. It was mortified and tried to fly away before I got to the door, but
was disoriented and flew into a wall instead. I think it was too stunned to
resist at that point, and so I picked it up and brought it outside. After a
few moments it flew up into the Japanese maple in my front yard.

There were some crows in this same tree that observed the whole escapade and
decided to start caw-caw-cawing at me. _And then for the next month they kept
doing it._ Turns out that yelling at them that I had saved one of them and
that it was my tree anyway didn't actually succeed in shutting them up.

~~~
Udo
It's an irrational reaction to a traumatic situation. Although we
theoretically have better tools to reason with, humans sometimes react in the
same way to these situations. Ambulance crews and emergency workers in general
could probably fill books with these events.

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hyperion2010
I had a breeding pair of peregrine falcons living over my porch and there are
also many crows that live nearby. One day the falcons had caught and partially
eaten a crow who managed to escape the nest and make it to the ground. Every
single crow within at least a mile radius (probably close to a hundred) showed
up and some of them tried to fight with the falcons. They were loud and quite
agitated for a couple of hours. For the rest of the time while the falcons
were nesting I stopped feeding the crows peanuts because they steered clear of
the area, as soon as the falcons left they showed up again.

Crows are amazing creatures.

~~~
codezero
Oh yeah.

I once watched a murder of crows chase down a falcon. I never knew they could
fly so aerobatically. They were flying faster than I'd ever seen a crow fly,
and maneuvering in ways that I didn't think possible.

Now, when ever I hear crows going absolutely mad, I assume a bird of prey is
near by, and almost aways, if you go out and look, you'll see the predator
nearby.

Falcons and hawks tend to get out of Dodge really fast when 3-4 crows set
their sights on them. They are out for an easy meal, and when confronted with
opposition, they do their best to find a new location.

I really love crows.

~~~
jakeogh
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfY3QtGFSwk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfY3QtGFSwk)

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snowwrestler
Is there an animal that does not fear death? I mean, try to swat a fly. Bees
will swarm and attack if one of their swarm is killed or injured--it releases
a pheromone. Or look at how a dog or cat responds and develops under abuse.
They know what a threat is, and avoid it, which implies an aversion to death.

I'm continuously surprised at what researchers are surprised by, when it comes
to animal behavior. Once it became obvious that we are ourselves animals, the
default hypothesis should be that everything we experience, other animals
experience as well; that we are indicative examples of a consistent set. Then
we could look for differences.

Instead, the presumption is that animals experience none of the inner life
that we do. IMO this goes back to religious and cultural beliefs from Europe,
not from any scientific basis. Other cultures don't think this way. If you
told a Native American or Tibetan Buddhist that crows are aware of death and
perceive their surroundings, they would probably say "yes, of course."

~~~
duderific
Agree. While crows are exceptionally smart, I bet if other species are
studied, similar results will be found, with regards to understanding the
concept of death.

The one that gets me now is when people say something like "well I don't eat
beef, but I am ok with eating fish because they are lower on the food chain."
As if fish don't feel pain when they are killed. You either accept that what
you are eating had to suffer when it died, and feel appropriate guilt (or
not), or you don't eat any meat at all.

~~~
nitrogen
_" well I don't eat beef, but I am ok with eating fish because they are lower
on the food chain."_

This is interesting, because many or most of the fish we eat are predators,
while cows are herbivores. Fish are _higher_ on the food chain than cows.

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codezero
Recently, I noticed a juvenile crow that had been hit by a car in San
Francisco, it was limping and unable to fly.

There were two crows near by that kept an eye on it. When I grabbed the
injured crow and took it to my car [1] to deliver to a wildlife hospital [2],
the two crows followed me to my car and called out. It was really intense. I
felt bad for taking the crow away, but had hoped that I would be able to help
it.

Ultimately the crows injuries were too bad to care for and the wildlife center
[1] had to put it to sleep :(

It was pretty amazing to see the crows' behavior. They really seemed
upset/concerned when I collected the injured juvenile, it seemed like sincere
empathy which is something that's amazing to observe in non-humans. Heck, it's
amazing to observe in humans :P

If you're in the bay area and find injured wildlife, please get in touch with
the Lindsay.

[1] [https://instagram.com/p/3O6ymkm5-9/](https://instagram.com/p/3O6ymkm5-9/)

[2] [http://lindsaywildlife.org/](http://lindsaywildlife.org/)

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shekyboy
Thanks, I am now horrified of that lady in the mask holding a dead crow...

~~~
bvttf
Did they do a control test with that mask and no dead bird? That fucking mask
might be enough on its own.

/twajs

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monopolemagnet
Crows went into my mechanics shop, got up on a toolbox and stole a recently
opened bag of in-shell sunflower seeds, without being seen, and had a
sunflower seed-opening party in the back parking lot. (I arrived to pick up a
vehicle to find the bag of nuts on the ground next to it and hundreds of empty
shells all over the area, and the service writer laughing at finding someone's
snack being snacked on elsewhere.)

Whether that implies some crows are smart or I should find another mechanic,
is debatable.

~~~
icelancer
>Whether that implies some crows are smart or I should find another mechanic,
is debatable.

Not mutually exclusive. :)

------
barking
Crows are interesting creatures. Liked this story from not long ago too.
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31604026](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31604026)

~~~
babuskov
I wonder if the craw in Demon/Dark Souls game was inspired by something like
that.

[http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/crow](http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/crow)

------
jhallenworld
Crows have the mobbing behavior when one of them is attacked by a house cat,
see:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRdm8JS3qpo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRdm8JS3qpo)

(hours of interesting "cat vs. bear/hawk/crow/snake/alligator/etc." videos
available).

Maybe they are responding to a crow immobilized by another creature instead of
recognizing a dead one.

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anotherevan
It's breeding season for magpies here (Australia) at the moment. So you're
likely to get swooped expectantly. Recent studies have shown they recognise
specific people they consider a threat and will swoop them year after year.

I remember as a kid watching our cat running from the shed up the back across
the yard to the house. He was hunkered down, going like a bullet as a magpie
dive-bombed him three times.

~~~
tokai
The Australian magpie is not a corvid. (European) Magpie is a very different
bird.

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minikomi
Artist group Chim↑Pom also use this mobbing behaviour to perform ... some kind
of statement.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iOmEKbCSGs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iOmEKbCSGs)

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danbower
Whilst on the bus earlier this week I was waiting for it to depart when I
heard a loud thud on the roof. Shortly afterwards I heard another thud. It
turned out that a crow had a large seed in its mouth, seemed to be a plum
seed, and was dive-bombing the roof of the bus in an attempt to crack it. It
succeeded on the third attempt.

They really are wonderful.

------
kqr2
Also see this documentary _A Murder of Crows_ :

[http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/a-murder-of-crows-full-
episod...](http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/a-murder-of-crows-full-
episode/5977/)

------
davidw
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't take anything from the lady with the creepy mask
holding a dead crow, either. Might make a good album cover for the right kind
of band, though.

~~~
ohitsdom
That image is absolutely horrifying. And standing there motionless for 30
minutes? Nope.

~~~
xlm1717
Now that is not only a scarecrow, it's a scarehuman.

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kitwalker12
dark wings dark words

