David B. 1d ago
#CrowUpdate I don't see the #crows from my window much these days, but it could be because they're busy building the nest, and if it is where I think it is (not 100% sure yet) it's more convenient for them to fly behind my house rather than in front of my house (I got spoiled last year with a direct view to the nest from my window), but every time I spend some time in the park, they eventually show up. Some trouble yesterday. The south crows came next to my house again and 🧵 ⤵️
Show threadDavid B. 1d ago
woke me up from my nap! Interestingly, while they're scared of me when I'm in the street, they're not impressed when I'm on my balcony (despite being higher, so technically closer to them, I guess they know I can't approach them from there). It's concerning because why are they trying to challenge "my" crows right now? Shouldn't they be busy building a nest too? (although, I think last year, they built one later, in April, as a reminder they're a different species of crow).
Weirdly, ⤵️
Show threadDavid B. 1d ago

Weirdly, you would assume that they'd be discreet when they're in someone else's territory, but no, they were super loud for some reason (or are they trying to claim it this way?). And very soon, Mr and Ms Crow showed up and Mr Crow slammed into one of the South Crows again. It's always very impressive (it went too fast, I couldn't film or anything).

I didn't keep track of what happened after (the South Crows fled, though), but later in the afternoon I went to the park. ⤵️

Show threadDavid B. 1d ago

I was a bit worried about Mr Crow, as this is how I think he usually he injures himself, but both Mr and Ms Crow were fine. First I gave them a peanut the way I always do, then, in order to try to tame them a little more, I tried something new. I left several peanuts (not just one or two) on a bench, and I left them on the side that was closest to me. And... I filmed!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AnrVI28e2bI

As you see, Mr Crow didn't dare to grab them. They were just too close. ⤵️

#CrowUpdate #Crows

Mr Crow wants those peanuts but they're still a little too close to me for comfort. #crow

YouTube
Show threadpandabutter1d ago
@David Interesting that they can distinguish languages! They really are very smart. You've mentioned that crows are generally disliked in Japan, so I wonder if they thought "foreigner = less unfriendly", or something like that—or maybe they were just curious about the human making new/different noises? Curiosity (and boredom!) do go hand-in-hand with intelligence.
Show threadpandabutter
@David And it's a good point that recognizing different languages isn't the same as *understanding*. My mom once encountered a pet raven in a park that had learned to say a couple words, and it didn't necessarily understand them—it just knew that making the sounds "Hello there!" from high up in a tree caused nearby humans to look around frantically, in a way it clearly found amusing!
Mar 22 at 8:31amWeb
Show threadDavid B. 1d ago

@pandabutter Ravens are so awesome for this.

I think carrion crows have the capacity to imitate sounds, but have little to no interest in doing it (at least not the Japanese ones)