{"id":69413,"date":"2019-02-19T06:39:05","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T13:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=69413"},"modified":"2019-02-19T11:51:39","modified_gmt":"2019-02-19T18:51:39","slug":"what-in-the-world-is-this-american-crow-doing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2019\/02\/19\/what-in-the-world-is-this-american-crow-doing\/","title":{"rendered":"What In The World Is This American Crow Doing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I guess the better question is.. Why is he doing it?<\/p>\n

Three weeks ago I documented some very puzzling behavior from an American Crow at Farmington Bay WMA.<\/p>\n

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1\/1250, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II,\u00a0Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

There were lots of crows in this area of standing water that was frozen solid that morning but I was watching this one because he\/she was closest and because his behavior seemed just a little different somehow. Mostly I was just watching him without firing off any shots but then things got interesting.<\/p>\n

As he approached the largest bent-over phragmites stalk remnant on the far left he stopped and then appeared to scold that stalk by repeatedly calling in its direction.<\/p>\n

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1\/1000, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n

Then he walked over to that particular stalk, grabbed it in his bill and pulled it out of the snow.<\/p>\n

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1\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n

He manipulated it in his bill for a few moments and then…<\/p>\n

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1\/1250, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n

dropped it in front of him. Then he appeared to scold the stalk (or something, maybe another crow or even me) some more.<\/p>\n

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1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n

He picked it up again, removed its frayed end and some short projections along its length and then carefully and deliberately “planted” it in the snow, taking care to….<\/p>\n

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1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n

make sure that the stalk was planted at an almost perfectly vertical angle.<\/p>\n

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1\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n

And then he nonchalantly walked away, inspecting his handiwork as he left it behind.<\/p>\n

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I’m convinced that this was no random act with no purpose or meaning but I have no idea what it might be. Perhaps it was a form of play or experimentation or maybe even some type of communication with other nearby crows. I’m stumped but I’m truly fascinated and intrigued at the same time.<\/p>\n

Corvids are known for their intelligence and crows are among the smartest of the bunch. They’re known for making and using tools, solving problems, having a diverse vocabulary (including mimicking human speech), participating in creative play and even for anticipating future events and other individuals’ states of mind. Researchers consider crows to be as bright as a typical seven year old child.<\/p>\n

One of my favorite examples of crow intelligence (and perhaps playfulness) is one cited by Cornell’s Birds of North America Online where wild, breeding female crows broke off pine cones and repeatedly dropped them on the heads of humans climbing their nest tree. Now I would dearly love<\/em> to see that but it doesn’t explain what was going on with “my” crow.<\/p>\n

If reincarnation exists I want to come back as a bird behaviorist. And I’m not kidding.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

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PS – Phragmites is an invasive plant known for propagating and spreading in marshlands at near-unbelievable rates. Wouldn’t it be something if crows turned out to be sort of the Johnny Appleseed of the phragmites world (he says with tongue firmly planted in cheek).<\/em><\/p>\n

Late Addendum: In a comment below Sybby suggested that I send a link to this post to Dr. Kevin McGowan at the Cornell lab. Dr. McGowan has studied crow behaviors for decades so that’s what I did. Following is his response:<\/em><\/p>\n