Crow is a smart bird, stories from life. The crow is the smartest of birds. Why do crowdhunters and authorities fight crows?

Crow is a bird belonging to the passerine order, the corvid family, genus O rona ( Corvus).

Previously, in Rus' the crow was called “vrana”. According to linguists, the name of the bird is most likely consonant with the words “witch,” “enemy,” “enemy.”

Crow: description, characteristics and photos. What does the bird look like?

Crows are the largest representatives of the passerine order. The length of the bird varies between 48-56 cm. The male is larger than the female, the weight of the male is 700-800 grams, females weigh from 460-550 grams. The length of the wing of a male crow reaches 27-30 cm; the wings of a female crow grow from 25 to 27 cm. The strong wings of most species have a pointed shape. The wingspan of a crow is about 1 m.

All kinds food waste- the usual and favorite food of crows, which is why large concentrations of these birds are often observed in city landfills. The crow feeds on insect larvae swarming in the dung.

In the absence of animal food, the crow eats plants and their seeds, fruits and vegetables.

Types of crows, names and photographs

The genus includes several species of crows:

• Black Crow(Corvus corone)

It has black plumage, as well as black legs, feet and beak. Therefore, the bird is often confused with the rook. However, the plumage of the carrion crow has a much greener tint than that of the rook, and sometimes even a purple tint. The body length of an adult is 48-52 cm.

The species' range covers the territory of Western and Central Europe, where the black crow lives together with one of its subspecies - the eastern black crow (lat. Corvus corone orientalis), which lives in East Asia. In Russia, black crows nest in Eastern Siberia and the Far East.

• Hoodie(Corvus cornix)

According to one classification, the hooded crow is a separate species, according to another, is a subspecies of the black crow. The length of the bird reaches 50 cm and weighs 460-735 grams. The hoodie differs from the rook in its larger wing width and particularly pronounced beak slope. The body is painted in grey colour. The head, chest, wings and tail of the hoodie are black with a slight metallic tint.

The gray crow lives in the Eastern and Central Europe, Scandinavian countries, Asia Minor and throughout Russia, from the western part to the Kara Sea.

• Australian Crow(Corvus coronoides)

This is the largest of the three related species, living in Australia. The crow's body length is 46-53 cm, and its weight is on average 650 g. The crow's black plumage has a blue-violet or blue-green sheen. Distinctive feature All crows found in Australia have white irises and prominent neck feathers. The throat of young individuals is covered with such sparse feathers that pink skin shows through between them.

The Australian crow lives in Sydney and Canberra.

• South Australian Crow(Corvus mellori)

It is distinguished by its completely black plumage, long wings and a thin, strongly curved beak. A medium-sized species, the length of an adult crow is 48-50 cm. According to some scientists, the bird prefers only plant foods.

The South Australian crow lives in southeastern Australia, as well as on King and Kangaroo Islands.

• Bronze Crow(Corvus crassirostris)

Originally called the vulture crow. Large representatives of the species have a body length of 60-64 cm. The beak of the bronze crow is quite large and exceeds the length of the head. The crow's coloration is completely black, with a single white spot on the back of the head. The tail of a crow of this species is characterized by a stepped arrangement of feathers.

The bronze crow lives in the mountains and high plateaus East Africa: Ethiopia, Eritrea, as well as Sudan and Somalia.

• White-necked Crow(Corvus cryptoleucus)

A typical representative of the genus, distinguished by the white bases of the feathers on the neck. The body length of an adult is 50 cm. This species of crow is common in the southeastern United States and northern Mexico.

• Big-beaked crow(Corvus macrorhynchos)

The bird has a very large beak. The size of a crow depends on its habitat: representatives northern populations larger than the southern ones, they have a large beak and well-developed feathers on the neck. On average, the length of adult crows is 46-59 cm, and their weight reaches 1.3 kg. The body is covered with dark gray feathers. The wings, tail and head of the great-billed crow are black, with a purple or green tint.

The species includes 15 subspecies living in continental Asia and Far East Russia, as well as those inhabiting the islands: the Philippines, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Hokkaido, Yakushima and many others.

• Bristle Crow(Corvus rhipidurus)

It grows up to 47 cm in length and is very similar to a black crow. However, the bird has a characteristically thick beak, long wings, a shortened tail and very short throat feathers. The species of bristly crows is distinguished by its glossy black color and characteristic purple-blue feathers and paws. The raven's feathers on the back of its head have a white base.

The habitat of this bird species begins in the Middle East, passes through northern part African continent, across the Arabian Peninsula, through Kenya and Sudan to the Sahara Desert.

• Bangay crow(Corvus unicolor)

The smallest crow of this genus, growing to only 39 cm in length. The species is characterized by black feathers and a short tail.

The least studied species of crow, found exclusively on Peleng Island in Indonesia. The species has endangered status and, according to scientists, the population today contains from 30 to 200 individuals.

White crows are very rare in nature - the result of mutation-albinism.

An albino can appear in any species group and will differ from its relatives only in its white plumage and extreme vulnerability.

How do crows reproduce?

At the age of 2 years, most crow species are ready to breed. Crows are monogamous birds and choose a mate for the rest of their lives. Mating games Male and female crows are distinguished by intricate aerial turns, chases and somersaults. The most common species of these birds breed in early to mid-spring.

On the left is a female crow, on the right is a male crow

Crows make nests in forest parks and squares; they are laid in the forks of strong tree branches, on power line supports, cranes, and behind drains. Species that live in steppe and semi-desert landscapes make nests in crevices of rocks and cliffs. Both future parents usually take part in the construction, painstakingly constructing a nest from twigs and twigs. The crow's nest does not exceed 0.5 meters in diameter and has a height of 20-30 cm. Turf, clay, and often pieces of wire are used for fastening. The bottom of the nest is lined with feathers, down, dry grass, cotton wool and rags.

Depending on the type of bird, the clutch contains 3-6 or 4-8 eggs of light green or bluish color with dark spots. The female crow incessantly incubates the clutch for 17-20 days. The male crow feeds his companion and takes care of her throughout the entire period of hatching the eggs.

After 25 days, naked crow chicks are born, provided with food by both parents. The cubs fledge a month after birth.

You should not try to pick up a crow chick that has accidentally fallen from the nest. The parents make a terrible noise, calling their relatives with shouts, and zealously protect the cub. A flock of crows attacks a dangerous alien, be it animal or human.

At the beginning of summer, the crow's offspring begin to fly out of the nest, and for the first month they remain with their parents, who continue to care for them. In July, the young animals finally leave their native nest.

Nevertheless, family ties remain, and sometimes the offspring of previous years, instead of creating their own family, help their parents feed and raise their brothers and sisters.

Winged neighbors.........................................................

They are black and gray, scared and not scared, large and smaller.

Whether you live in a city or a village, it doesn’t matter, you have every chance of waking up

in the morning, awakened by their cheerful cawing. It's easy to guess who

there's talk, right?

Crows have lived side by side with people since ancient times, and many of us are not

I'm glad to see such a neighborhood. There is an opinion that the crow is a bad bird

in every sense: bringing only harm and failure, and also not particularly smart

. To prove that such rumors are based solely on prejudices,

quite simple.

THE MYSTERY OF ORNITHOLOGY

It’s worth starting, however, with the well-known pun in the names. What is the difference

between a crow and a raven? It's easy to get confused when trying to find the answer, and

this is not at all surprising, because birds belong to the same family -

corvids, and the genus - ravens. Such confusion exists only in

Russian language. For example, in English the division is clearer. Family

- in Latin - Corvidae. Crow - "crow". Crow - " In general, to the family

corvids include a great variety of birds - jackdaws, rooks,

jays, cissos, magpies... As a rule, people relate to most of these

birds negatively. Some of them actually harm agriculture

economy, but for the most part “the information is greatly exaggerated.” And certainly

It is a mistaken opinion that the crow is a stupid creature.

THEY ARE DIFFERENT BY INTELLIGENCE AND INTELLIGENCE

The stamp is firmly entrenched in our minds: what if a bird repeats

words after person, she does it thoughtlessly and inappropriately. Main Impact

Parrots took on human prejudices. Being, in general, alone

one of the smartest birds on the planet, they carry the lifelong stigma of being a butt-

fool". Corvids were a little luckier, because the raven has long been considered

symbol of wisdom. Corvus corax, also known as the common raven,

Great understands and reproduces human speech. At the same time there was

It has been noticed that during the first couple of years this wonderful bird tries to teach

person's own language, then gives up and stops trying. Being

tamed from childhood, the raven remains faithful to its owner for life.

The most famous family of ravens living in the Tower of London, which,

staying wild birds, easily mastered human speech and

daily greet “their” caretaker.

Crows, jackdaws and rooks cannot boast of linguistic

talents. What does not prevent them from remaining on par with the level of intelligence?

great apes. For example, studying in 2009 mental capacity

rooks, scientists from the University of Cambridge were shocked. Before

the rooks were given the task of getting a worm placed in a special

container with outlet tube. In one of the tests, the worm fell out of

container if the bird placed a stone in the tube required weight. In a different

In the experiment, the rooks had to select a stone of the desired geometric shape.

In the third series of tests, the birds were required to independently make

a hook made of wire that could be used to pull out

worm container. Another experiment suggested that they could

use two different weapons in succession. In all experiments the rooks

found the right solution, often the first time. So, the birds bent

wire into the hook without any prompting, although they had never had to

do nothing like that! But in the scientific community it was believed that such

Only primates can use tools thoughtfully.

Dexterous beaks and long memories

One might argue that it is not difficult for tamed rooks to complete the task,

placed before them by people. But even the wildest ones

crows show miracles of intelligence and amazing coordination

in actions. For example, Swedish fishermen, leaving cast fishing rods without

they quickly jump to the fishing rods, reel in the fishing lines, eat the bait, and

then... they throw the fishing rods back! An even more significant case

happened to students at the University of Washington who somehow

caught a few crows for research. The catching took place roughly, the birds

they simply swaddled them in the net, then weighed, measured and released them.

Surprisingly, the crows firmly remembered their offenders and took revenge on them

All free time while they were in the fresh air - flew around,

They croaked loudly and caused a lot of trouble. It has continued

a week, then a month, then resumed after summer holidays. And even

when students finished their studies and returned to the university only

After a few years, they discovered that the crows still remembered them. Happening,

Amazing bird raven. Thanks to its ability to adapt to almost any living conditions, it has spread throughout the planet, and its gloomy silhouette in the sky is familiar to every person. For some, the raven is a harbinger of misfortune, and for others it is a symbol of wisdom and patience. His image is widespread in mythology, fiction, music and cinematography.

For centuries, people have adopted the raven as a pet, noting the bird's unusual intelligence. At some point, their population on the planet decreased greatly, but today the common raven has been taken under protection by many countries and its numbers have begun to grow again.

Description of the raven

The Latin name of the bird is Corvus corax. The species was first described by naturalist Carl Lynaeus in 1758. Today, ornithologists identify up to 11 subspecies of raven, but the differences between them in terms of phenotype are minimal and are determined by the area of ​​habitat rather than by genetic characteristics.

Raven refers

• kingdom - animals;
• type – chordates;
• class - birds;
• order - passerines;
• family - corvids;
• genus - crows;
• species - common raven.

The bird's closest relatives are the American white-necked crow, piebald and desert brown-headed raven, while in appearance it is most similar to the rook.

Appearance

The raven is the largest representative of passerines. Its body length reaches 70 cm, and its wingspan is up to 150 cm. The weight of the bird can be 800-1600 g, however, it is not uncommon for ornithologists to describe ravens with a body weight of up to 2 kg. The difference in length and weight depends on the habitat - than colder climate, the larger the individuals living in it. That is, the most major representatives ravens can be found in northern latitudes or in the mountains.

This is interesting! A distinctive feature of the raven is its massive sharp beak and feathers protruding like a fan on the bird’s throat. In flight, a raven can be distinguished from others by its wedge-shaped tail.

Male ravens are larger than females. It is almost impossible to distinguish them by color - both the female and the male are black with a metallic tint. The body is blue or purple on top and green underneath. Young animals are characterized by matte black plumage. The bird's legs are powerful, with large, curved black claws. If necessary, both they and the wide curved beak will become a weapon for attacking the enemy.

Lifestyle and intelligence

Unlike urban gray crows, the common raven is a resident of forest spaces and prefers old coniferous forests. It lives in isolated pairs, only by autumn forming small flocks of 10-40 individuals in order to fly to a new place in search of food. At night the bird sleeps in its nest and spends the whole day hunting. If necessary, one flock can organize an attack on another and recapture the territory within which it will obtain food.

This is interesting! Birds prefer to nest in the forest, however, in the winter they like to move closer to people, for example, to city dumps or cemeteries. There they have a better chance of finding something to eat and surviving the cold.

Raven is a smart bird. It has the same brain to body percentage as . Scientists even claim that they have intelligence. To confirm this fact, many experiments were conducted, giving the bird the opportunity to reveal its mental abilities. One of the most visual tests was based on Aesop's fable "The Crow and the Jug." The birds were placed in a room where there was a pile of pebbles and a narrow vessel with worms that swam in a small amount of water.

The birds could not freely get to the delicacy, and then intelligence came to their aid. The crows began throwing stones into the vessel, thereby raising the water level to reach the worms. The experiment was repeated four times with different birds and they all coped with the task - to get to the food. At the same time, the birds not only made rash actions, they threw pebbles until they managed to reach the worms, choosing larger stones, realizing that they could displace more water.

The crow language has also been studied by scientists. It was suggested that croaking is not just a chaotic noise, but a real conversation, and far from primitive. It would be too loud to call it a language, but scientists have come to the conclusion that ravens have something like dialects that change depending on their habitat. Another fact that proves the presence of intelligence in these birds is memory, passed on from generation to generation.

Just one bird killed by farmers can cause a flock to migrate. Crows will remember for a long time the house or area where danger arose and will try with all their might to avoid appearing near it. Another object of attention was the bird's inhibitory control, or more precisely the ability to control instinctive impulses for the sake of rational behavior. Crows were offered opaque tubes with holes containing food.

When they learned to find it accurately, the pipes were replaced with transparent ones. Using self-control, the birds had to extract the food without trying to get it directly by breaking through a transparent wall. Needless to say, they successfully completed this test. This endurance helps the raven wait for hours for food without exposing itself to unnecessary danger.

How long do crows live?

The lifespan of a raven is influenced by its habitat, so it is difficult to give an unambiguous answer to the question of how long this bird lives. In urban birds and those living in wildlife The number of years lived will vary greatly.

This is interesting! The longer the raven lives, the more knowledge, skills and experience he will gain throughout his life. This bird does not forget anything and becomes smarter and wiser over the years.

Crows that nest within the city and regularly inhale harmful fumes from industrial zones, as well as feed on scraps in landfills, can rarely boast a life expectancy of more than 10 years. However, in urban areas birds have practically no enemies, therefore, under favorable conditions, a raven can live up to 30 years. In nature, a raven lives about 10-15 years. Rare individuals live up to 40, because the bird has to hunt for its own food every day and be exposed to many dangers, including attacks from other predators. Lean autumn and Cold winter can cause the death of an entire flock.

Arabs believe that the raven is an immortal bird. Ancient records speak of individuals who lived 300 years or more, and folk epics say that a raven lives for nine human lives. Ornithologists treat such rumors with great doubt, however, they are confident that if favorable conditions are created for the bird in captivity, it may well live 70 years.

What is the difference between a raven and a crow

There is a common misconception among people that a raven is a male and a crow is a female of the same species. In fact, a raven and a crow are two different types belonging to the same corvid family. Such confusion in the Russian language arose due to the similar pronunciation and spelling of the names of birds. There is no confusion in other languages. For example, in English a crow is called "raven", and a crow sounds like "crow". If foreigners confuse these two birds, it is only because of their similar appearance.

This is interesting! Unlike ravens, ravens prefer to settle closer to humans. This makes it easier for them to get food for themselves. In the CIS countries, only the hooded crow is found, which is not difficult to distinguish by the color of its body.

The carrion crow, which can actually be mistaken for a crow, lives mainly in Western Europe and in the eastern part of Eurasia. The length and body weight of the bird is significantly inferior to the crow. Adult males weigh no more than 700 grams, and their body length does not reach 50 cm. There are differences in small details. The crow has no feathering on its crop, and during the flight you can notice that the bird's tail is smoothly rounded, while the raven's tail has a clear wedge-shaped ending.

The crow likes to gather in groups, while the raven stays in pairs or alone. Birds can also be distinguished by hearing. The caw of a raven is deep and guttural, sounds like “kaw!” or “arra!”, and the crow makes a nasal sound similar to a short “ka!” The two species do not get along with each other - often a flock of crows attacks a lone raven.

Area, distribution

The raven lives throughout almost the entire Northern Hemisphere. IN North America it can be found from Alaska to Mexico, in Europe in any country except France, as well as in Asia and North Africa. The bird prefers to settle on sea ​​coasts, in deserts or even mountains. But most often the crow can be found in dense ancient forests, mainly spruce. In rare exceptions, the bird settles in city parks and squares.

In the northern part of Eurasia, the bird lives almost everywhere, with the exception of Taimyr, Yamala and Gadyn, as well as on the islands in the Northern Arctic Ocean. In the south, the nesting border passes through Syria, Iraq and Iran, Pakistan and northern India, China and Primorye Russia. In Europe, the bird's habitat has changed significantly over the last century. Raven left the Western and Central parts, meeting there rather as an exception. In North America, the bird also appears less and less often in the center of the continent, preferring to settle on the border with Canada, in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine.

The crow was once widespread in New England, the Adirondack Mountains, the Alleghenies and the coasts of Virginia and New Jersey, as well as the Great Plains region. Because of mass extermination wolves and bison, the dead animals of which the bird fed on, the raven left these lands. Compared with other corvids, the common raven is almost not associated with the anthropogenic landscape. It is rarely seen in large cities, although flocks of ravens have been spotted in parkland in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Riverside, as well as in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar.

In the second half of the 20th century, the crow began to be noticed in the north-west of Russia, for example, in the suburbs of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Lvov, Chicago, London and Bern. The reason why the raven does not like to settle near a person is associated not only with the unnecessary anxiety that is caused to the bird, but most likely with the lack of suitable habitats and the presence of competitors.

Raven diet

The diet of ravens is varied. They are predators by nature, but key role The diet consists of carrion, mainly such large animals as deer and. For a long time the bird is able to feed dead fish, rodents and frogs. The raven is perfectly adapted to food-poor regions and eats everything it can catch or discover. In search of prey, it soars in the air for a long time, which is not typical for corvids. It hunts mainly game no larger than a hare, for example, various rodents, lizards, snakes, and birds.

Eats insects, shellfish, worms, sea ​​urchins and scorpions. On occasion, it can destroy someone else's nest by feeding on seeds, grains, and plant fruits. Crows often cause damage to farm crops. Another way of feeding is to be consumed by nesting eggs or young chicks. If necessary, the plant feeds on what a person leaves behind. A flock of ravens is found in almost every major city landfill.

Important! When there is an excess of food, the raven hides what is left from the meal in a secluded place or shares it with the flock.

During the hunt, the bird is very patient and is able to watch the hunt of another animal for hours in order to feast on the remains of its prey or track and steal the reserves it has made. When there is food abundance, different individuals living nearby can specialize in different types feed

American biologists observed such a picture in Oregon. The birds nesting in the neighborhood were divided into those who ate plant foods, those who hunted gophers and those who collected carrion. In this way, competition was kept to a minimum, which allowed the birds to exist safely nearby.

Ravens and crows are among the most intelligent birds; they have the rare ability to notice the main thing in any situation and draw far-reaching conclusions from it. They are considered "inventors" and can identify a problem and solve it efficiently and quickly, unlike most other birds who do things through trial and error.

If a crow is offered food to choose from from two feeders, and the bird knows from experience that the second one will be removed immediately, then it will unmistakably choose the one with at least one more worms. And even in more complex experiments she invariably comes out on top. After conducting many experiments, it was established that these birds are capable of accurately quantitatively comparing figures in experiments, determining the sequence of events, forming reflexes from 4–5 signals, and also counting to 8. They have developed mutual imitation and learning quite challenging behavior. Ornithologists believe that crows are capable of solving basic problems. logical problems and have an excellent memory for events and faces.

Source:

It has been proven that crows remember their offender for a long time. In Seattle, ornithologists conducted an interesting experiment. They caught seven crows and simply marked them. The birds were not harmed; they simply experienced some inconvenience and stress. After tagging the birds were released. All the scientists who took part in the experiment wore scary leather masks. The idea was to test whether the birds were able to remember and then distinguish the faces of the people who attacked them. For example, an untrained person will not be able to identify one specific crow in a flock. The crows completed the task. They perfectly remembered the face masks and, on occasion, actively became indignant and attacked people wearing masks. Moreover, after some time the entire flock in full force swooped down on the “villains.” An interesting fact is that the birds attacked not just people wearing masks, but people wearing exactly those masks.
That is, they distinguish our faces, they can determine the right person in the crowd and even involve their relatives in bullying. But without masks, scientists were of no interest to birds. So we can say with confidence that crows have excellent memory and observation skills.
Crows perfectly distinguish what is in a person's hands - a stick or a gun. There is a distinction between a child and an adult, a man and a woman. But this is not the limit, and crows are capable of more. They may do something unusual. Stop, look around, assess the situation. Remember what you saw before.

Source:

Crows have an innate ability to make tools such as probes and hooks, even combining various items. Particularly striking is the cone-shaped probe with a point at the end and a number of small hooks along the side surface, pointed at reverse side, made by them to obtain food from hard-to-reach places.

Source:

These birds have perfectly learned to use the anthropogenic environment for their own purposes. For example, they know that the best way to break nuts is by throwing them on hard asphalt, or even better under the wheels of cars. And they pick up a broken nut only when the traffic light is red (in places with high traffic). Sometimes in this way crows lure animals under the wheels of a car, calculating the speed of the vehicle. Sometimes for revenge, and sometimes for food. If a crow is interested in a matchbox, it can open it with its paw. And he can get to the candy by unwrapping the candy wrapper without damaging it.

Crows are able to see similar properties even in objects that are dissimilar to each other. Moreover, birds can do this even without prior training.

Corvids are always popular among animal psychologists and, in general, among everyone who is in any way involved in research into the cognitive abilities of animals and the evolution of intelligence.

And that is to say, these birds can use tools, are able to remember the appearance and voices of people (as well as birds of other species), and social structure and their communication is very difficult.

However, it cannot be said that we already know everything about the intelligence of corvids - they continue to surprise us and take new cognitive heights, as evidenced by the article by Anna Smirnova, Zoya Zorina and Tatyana Obozova from Moscow State University, which they wrote together with Edward Wasserman ) from the University of Iowa (USA) published in Current Biology.

Zorina's group has been studying the cognitive abilities of corvids for a long time, and in a recent article on avian intelligence, we already mentioned some of their results.

It is known that many corvids, including hooded crows, can distinguish objects by color, shape and quantity.

The first part of the experiment consisted of teaching two hooded crows, no older than two years old, to compare objects based on the following characteristics.

In the cage where the crow was sitting, a tray appeared with three cups covered with cards with geometric patterns.

The middle card was the control card; it was necessary to compare the other two with it and understand which one was similar to the middle one and which one was not. That is, if two blue squares were drawn on the control card, then the same pattern had to be chosen from the remaining two. If the crow chose correctly, it would find two worms in the cup.

Once the birds figured out how to select objects based on similarity, the experiment became more complicated. This time they had to choose not by complete similarity, but by analogy.

For example, if the sample card had two identical squares, then the crows had to choose the card with two identical circles.

The alternative - a card with two different sized circles - was incorrect. That is, here it was necessary to isolate the characteristic (sameness of size) and similarly apply it to others geometric shapes. Short video from the experiment can be viewed here.

It was not difficult to draw an analogy for crows. Moreover, even without special training, the birds were able to draw parallels between different objects.

That is, they did not need a preparatory stage during which they were taught to understand the exact correspondence between objects. Generally speaking, the understanding of analogy was previously considered to be characteristic only of humans and higher primates.

However, now so much information has already accumulated about the intelligence of crows that, probably, one should not be surprised even at their spontaneous “analogical conclusions.”

The bird brain can be divided into several fields with specific functions.

And who knows, maybe when such an experiment is repeated with other species of corvids and with other species of birds, it will turn out that understanding analogies is generally the most common thing among animals - at least among birds.