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AMERICAN CROW
Recorded in Penrose, North Carolina, Summer, 2008.
Intelligent, omnivorous and opportunistic, the American Crow is much more numerous today than it was hundreds of years ago. These mischievous birds are very social, tend to thrive around humans and are good learners and problem-solvers. I recently heard an interesting program on NPR's American Life that stated that crows were smarter than we ever imagined. They recognize and remember human faces in a way that is astounding. When a scientist visited a crow's nest to band the young birds for research purposes, the adult crows became agitated. That is understandable, but when the scientist walked around campus the crows would follow, squawking, and diving at the poor man who had done the banding! Even in a large crowd, the crows recognized the individual who had visited their nest! One of the scientists did an experiment where he wore a cave-man mask when banding the crows. Following the banding, he had people of all types wear the mask around town. Each person who wore the mask was dive-bombed by the crows!
Visit The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's site to learn more about crows HERE.