“Out of the 810 species of North American birds, only crows and ravens are completely black,” says Ellen. “But they have much more in common than color. Along with their cousins, the magpies and jays, they’re among the smartest birds on the planet.”
In the Q&A that follows, Ellen’s answers contain green links to audio files from BirdNote’s archive that you won’t want to miss. A recap of earlier stories in our series is at the bottom of the page, along with information on how to get BirdNote daily (and the quiz answers–no peeking!).
crow-and-raven q&a, and a quiz!Q. So who’s smarter, Ellen? Crow or raven?
A. It’s hard to say. Crows make tools, play games, and outwit other species in search of food. Check out this story about a crow fooling a young glaucous-winged gull on the beach.
A rook, a close cousin to the American crow, may have been the culprit in setting the roof of Shakespeare’s wife Anne Hathaway’s cottage on fire–when all he wanted was to smoke out some parasites under his wings, with a smoldering cigarette. That story.
A New Caledonian crow named Betty is famous for her tool-making skills and even turned up on an official postage stamp.
A researcher of crows discovered that the birds can recognize individual faces–and remember a person for his action–for better and for worse. (Note
Read more on awaytogarden.com