True Facts: Crows That Hunt With Sticks

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Featuring the work of:
Dr Natalie Uomini, Max Planck Institute
Dr Anne B. Clark, SUNY Binghamton
Dr Michael Griesser, University of Konstanz
Dr Kaeli Swift, University of Washington
Dr Alex Kacelnik, University of Oxford
Dr Jolyon Troscianko, University of Exeter
Dr Christian Rutz, University of St Andrews
Dr Diana Liao, University of Tübingen
Dr Gavin Hunt, University of Auckland
Dr Nicola Clayton, University of Cambridge
Dr Sonja Hillemacher, University of Bonn
Zita Fülöp
Neil Smith
Citations:
Asakawa-Haas K, et al. Partner Choice in Raven (Corvus corax) Cooperation. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0156962.
Bayern, A.M.P.v. et al. Compound tool construction by New Caledonian crows. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-33...
Chappell, J et al. (2004). Selection of tool diameter by New Caledonian crows Corvus moneduloides. 10.1007/s10071-003-0202-y.
Düring DN et al. The songbird syrinx morphome: a three-dimensional, high-resolution, interactive morphological map of the zebra finch vocal organ. doi: 10.1186/1741-7007-11-1.
Gruber, R. et al, New Caledonian Crows Use Mental Representations to Solve Metatool Problems, doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.01....
Holtmann B et al. Dominance relationships and coalitionary aggression against conspecifics in female carrion crows. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-52177-7.
Hunt, G. Manufacture and use of hook-tools by New Caledonian crows. doi.org/10.1038/379249a0
Hunt GR, Villard P. Oscillatory extraction behaviour suggests functional attributes of crows' hooked-stick tools. doi: 10.1007/s10071-023-01749-2.
Hunt GR et al. The crafting of hook tools by wild New Caledonian crows. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2003.0085.
Hunt GR et al. Parallel tool industries in New Caledonian crows. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2006.0603.
Hunt, G et al. (2016). A complex adaptive system may be essential for cumulative modifications in tool design. 10.2502/janip.66.2.2.
Jelbert SA et al. New Caledonian crows rapidly solve a collaborative problem without cooperative cognition. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0133253.
Jelbert SA et al. Using the Aesop's fable paradigm to investigate causal understanding of water displacement by New Caledonian crows. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0092895.
Klump, BC. et al. Hook tool manufacture in New Caledonian crows: behavioural variation and the influence of raw materials. doi.org/10.1186/s12915-015-02...
Mack C et al. Modulation of behavioural laterality in wild New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides): Vocalization, age and function. doi: 10.1080/1357650X.2022.2098969.
McCoy, D.E. et al. New Caledonian Crows Behave Optimistically after Using Tools, doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.06....
Müller, J.J.A. et al. Ravens remember the nature of a single reciprocal interaction sequence over 2 days and even after a month, doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.201....
Rutz C et al. The evolutionary origins and ecological context of tool use in New Caledonian crows. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2011.11.005.
St Clair JJ, Rutz C. New Caledonian crows attend to multiple functional properties of complex tools. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0415.
Swift, Kaeli et al. (2018). Occurrence and variability of tactile interactions between wild American crows and dead conspecifics. 10.1098/rstb.2017.0259.
Swift, K.N. et al, Wild American crows gather around their dead to learn about danger, doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.201....
Troscianko, J. Et al. Activity profiles and hook-tool use of New Caledonian crows recorded by bird-borne video cameras. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2015.0777
Troscianko, J. et al. Extreme binocular vision and a straight bill facilitate tool use in New Caledonian crows. Nat Commun 3, 1110 (2012). doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2111
Uomini N, et al. Extended parenting and the evolution of cognition. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0495.
Weir, Alex et al. (2002). Shaping of Hooks in New Caledonian Crows. 10.1126/science.1073433.
Weir, A.A.S., et al. A New Caledonian crow (Corvus moneduloides) creatively re-designs tools by bending or unbending aluminium strips. doi.org/10.1007/s10071-006-00...
Wimpenny JH et al. Cognitive processes associated with sequential tool use in New Caledonian crows. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0006471.

[@zefrank]

Go to brilliant.org/zefrank to get a 30-day free trial + the first 200 people will get 20% off their annual subscription.

[@jjbruno2486]

I might

[@jjbruno2486]

Probably

[@Iamrightyouarewrong]

What about dogs?

[@John-X]

i liked u better when ur name was zefrank instead of "Ze Frank"

[@graciliraptor3990]

Can I also get a ticket to New Caledonia?

[@YochevedDesigns]

A friend of mine took in a crow with a wounded wing, and nursed it back to health. She released it from her apartment window when it could fly around again. A few months later the same crow showed up with a friend, who had a wounded wing. Word got out among the crows, and her apartment turned into a crow ER. One time a pigeon even showed up! The next year the pigeon brought her babies over to show off. She always had at least 3 or 4 birds in recovery at her place on any given day.

[@jasondashney]

That's the cutest story ever!

[@tybronx2446]

Magic is real in stories like these 😭♥️

[@StoicVeR]

Birds can sometimes get a good read on people and their habits. We've had dove parents bring their babies to our porch while we sit outside, and just leave them by us on the wall to "baby sit" while mom/dad dove goes off to do dove business. Im sure birds keep track of what hunts and preys on animals in the neighborhood, and who is friendly or dismissive of birds/animals. This sort of thing can give them massive advantages, especially when someone takes on bird mending or is chill with hanging out with babies while the parents go forage.

[@Baldoxxx4000]

Need proof, some birds are forgetful

[@rondickinson1907]

Nurse Birdwell

[@jacforswear18]

The researcher who sacrificed their standing and reputation in crow society for the scientific greater good is a true hero. I would never be strong enough to live knowing a crow thought I was a swindler 😢

[@somethingwolfish1872]

That is exactly what I was thinking! I would be so upset!

[@syrta]

Yes, exactly my thought! I feel horrible just thinking about doing that.

[@starchb0mb]

Same! I would hate to be the person they remembered as not an honest trader!

[@yellowcatmonkey]

that's ok crows are smart that's the whole point of the vid😸some games are won and some are just lessons to be prepared☝️😸 if i did this to you and then laughed and fed you snacks unconditionally anyway and took care of you then you would understand that i tricked you and it's for fun no harm was done so no record 💖they are very social and can pick up cues etc just like we do ✨but i love what you have said anyways it is lovely and i agree i wouldn't want that too unless it's a crow bro that knows me already all too well 🌻😁

[@timwoods2852]

Not only that, but they'll tell all the other crows in the area, and you'll never be able to show your face in nature without all the crows dive-bombing your swindling face!

[@mamacrochets]

To add a story about the ingenuity of crows.... My kids and I went to the bird show at our zoo. The presenter was sharing a story about how they trained crows to pick up trash like plastic straws by rewarding the crows every time they would deposit a straw in a collection device. However, the crows figured out that if they cut the straw into smaller pieces, they would get more treats for each straw deposit they made. 😂😂 The devices had to be changed to a weight-based rewards system to keep the birds from gaming the system. 😜

[@jasondashney]

That story makes my day. I love when adults get outsmarted.

[@treymarcum]

To give a comparison great apes in zoos are trained to hand objects to keepers for rewards and they came up with a similar result. Break the object into pieces to get more treats

[@tranquilthoughts7233]

@@treymarcum Which at times can get a bit problematic. Like for example if the object in question is a smartphone that some visitor dropped into the enclosure. Or rather horrifying if the object is a child that fell into the enclosure...

[@flandersme]

That is truly a testament to how smart they are.

[@Ricca_Day]

@@tranquilthoughts7233 Dude. Dark. Maybe reconsider your screen name?

[@PanzerMan332]

Nature's cruelest irony is that crows will never get the chance to absolutely crush every single Breath of the Wild shrine puzzle.

[@anoriginalusername1088]

I mean, if we hook up the game to some sort of food dispenser maybe we will.

[@shithoagie]

Fuck, man 😥

[@oldsoulrathael]

All they need is access to some good glue.

[@Makaponpon]

not with that attitude

[@fuzzydude64]

so we made a mod that randomizes...

[@rhov-anion]

I had a neighbor who shot a crow with a BB gun. The crows all went Mafia on the kid. He could no longer go into his backyard or ride his bike, or the crows would attack. One day I went over to his house (I was friends with his brother) the crows saw me in the backyard with the kid. They began to go after me, thinking I was "in on it." So I took to feeding the crows at my house (same block) and after a few days they forgave me and stopped attacking. Crows REMEMBER!

[@corvidsRcool]

I hope that kid learned a lesson about wanton cruelty to animals.

[@GreebleClown]

If you think about it that’s the same as what humans and other apes do; if there’s a dangerous animal near where we live we tend to gang up and kill or chase it off so it’s not a threat anymore.

[@thefinalboss4471]

Wait so crows will let you kill their family so long as you pay them off?

[@exidy-yt]

@@thefinalboss4471 no, they didn't forgive the kid who shot the crow, just the kid they associated with the kid who shot the crow.

[@chazdomingo475]

A wretch! Said they, that bird to slay

[@Frosty_tha_Snowman]

Crows are crazy smart. My mom started feeding one bird seed alongside the other birds (gave him his own dish) before long, he brought a friend, and then started bringing presents and putting them in the dish. He brought pennies, smooth rocks, pieces of glass.. it's very cool. He's just named "Crow" or "Mr. Crow" and he comes and waits on his branch as soon as either one of us calls his name.

[@Blynat]

There is a flower shop that I delivery to once a week. They have a bowl of peanut out for the local squirrel and random little piles of string and threat spools thimbles started showing up in and around the bowl. So either squirrels are starting to do this too. Or there is a crow that lives near a tailor that swings by.

[@morganseppy5180]

I need to become a witch.

[@Blacknight6577]

Bro was paying for his food 😂

[@daviddroescher]

Even better he was negotiating a contract for futuredeliveries. I give you this now and you give me more that later.

[@syrenet]

Facts, i know guy who instigated war between cocatoos and crows by feeding the crows, and same guy were really annoyed with the cocatoos ripping apart all the plastic's on his yard, so he started chasinga round the cocatoos and the crows took notice, soon the crows started to gang up on the moderately larger birds and each time buddy saw them chasing off these white pests, he game the crows more treats. few years later his property were cocatoo free.

[@Grnvolpe]

Not only are crows smart, they like to solve puzzles and problem solve. My mom started feeding one by the porch and little by little she started giving him little puzzles to solve. Remove the lid or pull the twigs at first but then she got more elaborate and made these little puzzle boxes for him. At one point my dad got upset she was putting so much time into the crow but my mom didn’t care. Anyway, 2 years later and my mom left my dad for the crow and they’ll be getting married in May. The crow is my stepdad

[@Weeaboogod_]

Based

[@maybemablemaples2144]

Honestly, good for her 👏🏿

[@DanHarkins-jk9mi]

I paid a crow to repair my carburetor last Tuesday. 80 bucks, parts + labor. He had buddies, just like in the video. Took them eight minutes.

[@ekathe85]

You had me on the first half, not gonna lie

[@wendytube28]

Genius!!😂🥰🤣😍😂

[@TaylorMaurandbhangra]

Crows seriously need an hour-long special. This was not enough

[@WestSydeThuugg]

100% agreed. They are insanely amazing animals

[@purplehaze2358]

What I’m gathering from this video is that crows can fill literally any bird niche if they’re clever enough.

[@poppedweasel]

Definitely! I remember watching a documentary on puffin like auklets being hunted from their nesting site. They showed a peregrine falcon fail, where a raven succeeded in catching these little island auks.

[@CDCI3]

And they are clever enough.

[@LindaC616]

" *because* they are smart enough". There, fixed it for you.

[@ConnorGadson]

It’s a wonder they’re not the dominant bird species on the planet… or are they? They are on just about every continent, right? The only birds I see more of are robins.

[@BigBrotherMateyka]

And they're clever enough, too. 👀

[@sevenandthelittlestmew]

My husband goes on walks and takes peanuts for the crows. He lures them back to our house (he has been using the same call for them every time) so they know where we live. This is beneficial to us, because we have chickens, and the crows will attack any hawks that get near our house. Crows are excellent neighbors. We provide seed for them in addition to the evening peanut treats.

[@spamandjamjamandspam8669]

do they ever interact with the chickens? There's a bunch of videos of them messing with cats

[@ctrlaltdelete200390]

What about the crow poop

[@squiddwizzard8850]

​@@ctrlaltdelete200390they're already dealing with chicken poop. Though there is some potential for bird diseases.

[@impulsivecrafting]

That's all well and good, but crows eat chicken eggs and chicks. You don't want crows around if you intend to let eggs hatch...

[@0-m-1-n-0-u-5]

@@ctrlaltdelete200390 You can actually make friends with crows.

[@iangarcia9104]

My family did rescues of crows and ravens. My dad used to yell at us for eating all of the pistachios. Turns out the birds figured out how to open their cage, eat the nuts, and then close the cage when they were done. Never did I get the apology for eating the nuts.

[@justaninkling]

My favourite crow/raven experiment goes like this: Scientists wanted to stop crows from eating an endangered species eggs, so they coated look alike eggs with something to make them sick. The crows that were sick later were seen avoiding these nests of eggs and even ones not in the experiment were starting to as well. They decided to repeat it again with ravens, hoping for similar results. This time, however, the sick ravens went out and destroyed these nests or hid the eggs, so other birds wouldn't get sick from the eggs. Just showing how smart and social these birds really are.

[@tretower57]

During lockdown, from an upstairs window, I started feeding in-the-shell peanuts to a crow I named“Corvid-19”. He has such good eyesight that he could be in a tall tree in the far distance (he would be like 1/2” tall in the distance) and I could hold up a peanut in the window and he would come bombing up to a nearby tree and then come and land on the window (which opens out), and claim his peanut. He would also keep tabs on me, perching on the gutter outside the bathroom as I got dressed, watching me in the kitchen, or perching on the gutter that was right in my eyeline when I was sitting in the family room. The next year, he took a wife, “Branch du Bois”, and they sit in a tree in our back yard waiting for me to throw them grapes or nuts. Once in awhile, he and 40 or 50 of his associates gather in a big oak tree across the way, cackle up a storm, and then explosively disperse.

[@tiacat11]

Losing my mind at Corvid-19, objectively the greatest name of all time

[@monkeybusiness1039]

Disco Elysium fan?

[@squiddwizzard8850]

Years later, a man with a knife tries to mug you. The crows, understanding you're the Peanut Man attack the man. You run the hell out of there. Later on the news "A local man, wanted for an armed robbery was found pecked to death by crows. What does this mean for you? More at 11."

[@adamhalcyon3393]

@@squiddwizzard8850 now I gotta wait till 11 to find out what's gonna happen to us!?!

[@0-m-1-n-0-u-5]

"Corvid-19" Noice.

[@Crustdaddii]

A couple years ago, I went to the beach in Ocean Shores Washington. There was a crow sitting on one of the poles near the bathroom. I know crows are familiar with faces so I politely said “sup?” And that crow responded “Sup?”. After that, I have forever respected crows because I’m pretty sure I’m now in an alliance.

[@shadypixel4478]

Maleficent origin story

[@prettylittlegamers1394]

Okay, having experienced a crow responding Sup in that exact place, I no longer feel as crazy 😂 I genuinely thought I was being messed with

[@JonNeimeister]

You'd think by now the butt/but joke would be old, but it isn't. Still catches me off guard, every time. Please never stop. 😂

[@Smokinjoewhite]

I just can't unhear crowsdicks.

[@Heroesflorian]

Even if it would be old butt... never underestimate old butts! I mean, never underestimate old, but experienced people.

[@svgwsmsvgwsm]

Even at 44 years old I rewind to hear it again 😂

[@FulcanMal]

It's been a few years since I've watched a Zefrank video, and that buttbrain bit had me rolling.

[@Kizapawn]

Can’t stop laughing at it 😂

[@lisielie1927]

Fun Fact! The bird featured in the video clip at 11:42 is Mischief the white-necked raven. Mischief was a inhabitant of the World Bird Sanctuary in Missouri and their social media has quite a few videos of him if you're interested in seeing more! He unfortunately passed a few years ago, I believe from old age, but the sanctuary has many other birds- you might also know them for Murphy, the male bald eagle who went viral this year for "hatching" his rock.

[@b.jr.7816]

who gives a shit, tell me more about the woman

[@Cheshieruu]

@@b.jr.7816 down boy.

[@julybliss4440]

Few states away, I remember them showing murrray and the rock on news.

[@chengkailiu4631]

@@b.jr.7816bad crow

[@tybronx2446]

Wait! I didn't know that was the same place with Murray the rock egg guy :D that made me really happy

[@themorebeer3072]

The crows aren't holding a funeral for the unknown dead crow, they're gathering together for a ... murder investigation.

[@LindaC616]

I see what you did there

[@AbsentWithoutLeaving]

😆😅😂😂🤣🤣🤣😯😵⚰🪦👻👻👻👻

[@saber2802]

I mean to be fair, even humans if coming across a dead body wouldn't be like "boohoo..." at first, they'd be like "holy shit, who did this?!"

[@pigbenis8366]

Saw a story a couple years ago about a lady and her daughter and they would feed a couple of crows on their back porch. Of course, the crows started bringing them gifts. The mom was a photographer and had gone to a photoshoot many many miles away from home. When she got home she realized that she left her lens cover where the photoshoot was. A couple of days later, the crow had brought the actual lens cover and left it on her porch.

[@Shrooblord]

what!! that's... amazing??

[@helenl3193]

I remember that too! I think they were in Australia or NZ, but I could be conflating with another story of a girl and her mum that befriended the local crows. They are amazing animals, and I'd love to be friends with the ones in my neighbourhood, but unfortunately I have cats and the two DO NOT mix! Initially I hoped if they associated the cats with me, maybe they'd be classed as safe, but apparently they will try to 'defend' the humans they're friends with from other people and sometimes their own pets, so for everyone's safety I had to stop feeding them 😕

[@mojofier1909]

oh yeah! I heard of that through some old MrBallen video. I love corvids and parrots omg

[@AbsentWithoutLeaving]

Whoa! Here's us, worried about the government tracking us, meanwhile crows know who we are, where we live, where we work and what we do, and apparently keep (mental) files on us.

[@deathsnitemaresinfullust2269]

Haa! That's friggin awesome. 😄👍

[@planguy9575]

"That crow won't make anymore cheese deals with that person. And neither should you." That was really good.

[@joyfullydreaded1371]

There are crows on Prince Edward Island in Canada that have all learned to say "hello". The science hippies believe that stems from one crow that befriended a hooman and it learned hello as that was said to the crow every time he saw said hooman. Crows and ravens are fascinating birds! 🖤🖤🖤

[@OriginalCreatorSama]

Concept: Teach crows to say "human! there's a human here!" every time it sees a person and then release it back into the wild and wait.

[@danielled8665]

Had a raven here learn that when my husband called for me in a certain way, I went inside to see what he wanted. Raven made that call when I was eating lunch outside. I went in, he said he hadn't called me. I went back out, bird was on the table helping himself to my lunch. 😂

[@SanityTV_Last_Sane_Man_Alive]

I think thats better than my story. My counsin did this whistle to get my attention. (He lived next door) and we have mocking birds. So one day I'm outside and I hear him wistle. So I yell "what?" and he whistles again. After a few times of this I start getting mad. "what?!? What do you want?!?!" Took me about 10 min to find the bird and realize what was going on.

[@danielled8665]

@@SanityTV_Last_Sane_Man_Alive it is just so character consistent for Corvids to figure out how to make human sounds and then just immediately go "Ah yes. I do a little trolling."

[@12crows]

As an american crow, this was very informative! I'll definitely be teaching my buddies about this.

[@trublgrl]

Well, as a New Caledonian Crow, I want to say if you come here, leave your politics where you came from.

[@TheRealSkeletor]

Claims to be "an" American crow, but name is actually 12crows. You are now a murder suspect.

[@trublgrl]

@@TheRealSkeletor I see what you did there.

[@craven5328]

As a Canadian raven, I concurr!

[@DavidCruickshank]

As a British raven it's always interesting to hear about our cousins.

[@jeremyvettech5562]

"They may not have suitable peckers, but what they do have is crow sticks" 😄 You know exactly what you did there, Frank

[@littleman6950]

He was doing it for a while too. So many stick jokes.

[@kierstengreen2122]

He does! And I KNOW he is not say "sticks" as often as we're thinking! 😂

[@user-ro3kc5yj7e]

I just wanted to express how thankful I am that this channel exists. Its extensive, credited research on obscure (for the general public) and super interesting topics, the clear and fresh communication, and obviously the comedy. It's really on another level of quality and there's obviously a great amount of care and talent put into it. I am impressed every time !

[@Ricca_Day]

Amen 🙏

[@sunderzilla]

that crow was so flabbergasted when the human didn't give the cheese reward

[@saber2802]

I can just hear it go "You ass!"

[@mangaanimefan3089]

They looked like the definition of the WTF meme! 😂

[@myinnermagpie]

It really looked astonished that the human could be such an a-hole. 😂

[@CZ350tuner]

We had a blinded, adult carrion crow live with us for just over 10 years. She was very intelligent and used to mime out things whilst demonstrating the crow noise for it. Crows have a whole vocabulary of quieter noises and sounds other than the usual loud broadcast caws that are more familiar to everybody. She interacted with the wild crows and humans. She understood a lot of English words, phrases and questions, but never spoke, preferring to mime or use crow language noises and sounds. As a companion, crows love to be petted and made a fuss of. They can be fussy eaters. Ours also loved routine and rituals, especially around being put to bed, where she'd express her status over her subservient human servants. Ours also used to marinate cooked pork, in a bowl of water flavoured with chocolate hoop cereal leaving it for an hour or so in her hutch and then return to eat the now chocolate flavoured pork. She would meticulously prepare this recipe, after asking for some chocolate hoop cereal. She also experimented with other meats, but cooked pork was her favourite for marinating.

[@SuperPrettyPink101]

That's incredible and hilarious. Chocolate marinated pork, I love it.

[@pauldeddens5349]

I wonder if a chocolate fondue fountain would have blown her mind.

[@Unkn0wn1133]

How does a crow mime? Can you describe this please

[@timwoods2852]

Must not have been any cocoa in that cereal, otherwise she'd have lasted only 10 days, if that. PSA: Cocoa is poisonous to pretty much every animal. If you love your pet, do NOT feed them chocolate!

[@Shrooblord]

Thank you for this story. I love it so very much.

[@thepatshowonwp]

Tool-making in animals is a sign of high intelligence. Crows are very very smart, which is why I love them😊

[@wintergreen9949]

if only they had thumbs

[@thepatshowonwp]

@@wintergreen9949 they would be breaking and entering if they had thumbs😂😂

[@ObservantPiratePlus]

I did an experiment as a wildlife rehabber with our local crows, where I put out a container with an assortment of party favor "jeweled" rings, with plastic stones of various colors, to find that the crows arranged them near to each other by color.

[@diestormlie]

Conclusion: At least some Crows are Autistic.

[@LauraHorrorshow]

I have always absolutely adored crows. I recently moved to the city and I was so sad thinking I wouldn’t see any. Silly me, a murder showed up this autumn and started eating the nuts I was leaving out for squirrels. I bought some realistic decoy crows, a crow call, a heated bird bath, and tons of peanuts and now the crows are my buds. Every morning at 9am I am greeted by a fleet of crows outside my window pecking at the glass asking to be fed. This is only a recent development, in the last couple of weeks. I hope someday they’ll leave me presents like the crows did at my childhood home in the country. Another fun crow story from my youth; I always fed them because I loved them, so they knew me, but never let me get too close. One day I hear an unfamiliar call coming from the crows. I’d never heard them make this sound before and it sounded panicked. I look outside and I see a few acres down the property, a bunch of crows huddled around a wooden lawn chair. I go outside to see what’s up and they all fly up into the trees to watch from a safe distance. As I approached the chair, I saw that a crow had somehow gotten its head stuck between two slats in the back of the chair and was unable to free himself. He had worn a ring around his neck where the feathers had been rubbed off and his skin was raw and splintered from the weather-worn wood of the chair. He was tired and clearly had been there for hours. He let me pick him up and bring him into the house where I removed the splinters and tried to treat any wounds as best as I could. Poor baby was so exhausted. I gave him water and offered him nuts. After about 24 hours, he seemed like he was feeling much better and I released him back into a safe spot in the yard where he rejoined his family. For almost a year after that, I could always spot him from the missing ring of feathers around his neck. We named him Chairy. 😂 But he must have known I was trying to help him because from that point on until I moved, they would frequently bring me trinkets when they came to get their food which they had never done before that. They left keys, buttons, legos, paper clips, hair ties, marbles, the list goes on. I miss them every day but I’m so glad I’m finally making new crow friends again here. 🐦‍⬛💕

[@ckl9390]

I wonder who's keys, and for what, they brought to you?

[@thewiseturtle]

Chairy's story would make a lovely little children's book!

[@LauraHorrorshow]

@@ckl9390 Haha! 😂 That’s a good point! Watch, they were actually gifting me a car. Somewhere in Northern Maryland a 2002 Ford Focus is rotting away and the crows who bought it are all sitting around it saying, “Where the hell is she?? Did you give her the keys, Craig??” 🤣

[@LauraHorrorshow]

@@thewiseturtle Oh my gosh, I’ve never thought of that! That is such a good idea! Thank you! 🥰 I think I may do just that! Maybe work in some kind of message about how the negative stereotypes about crows being harbingers of bad luck are wrong and we should never judge or refuse to help someone in need just because they look a certain way.

[@TwoHeadedMeerkat]

Honestly, as useless as those gifts are to everyday human-life, they sound like the kinds you'd be really happy to receive, if not solely for the emotional weight behind them. They don't know what's useful, they just think they're pretty, and I think that's really sweet! I love crows, definitely my favorite animals, as well as other corvids! ^-^

[@LateNightTableCo]

“Honey, wake up. Ze Frank just dropped a video about crows.” Actually did this as my wife was napping and crows are her favorite animal. Thanks Ze Frank for helping me live out my -dreams- memes

[@VultureSkins]

I sent it to my s/o, knowing that he’ll wake up to it, too! Something about crow facts really bonds people together

[@morganseppy5180]

You're a good partner.....if you know she's OK going back to sleep.

[@morganseppy5180]

​@@VultureSkinsyou're the best

[@krugerstan]

You've now inspired me to do the same for my wife, who is interested in neither Ze Frank nor in crows, but is very interested in napping. If I don't report back, you may assume the worst has happened.

[@MrDasfried]

​@@krugerstanhow's it going over there? You still alive? 😶

[@BigBass-xf5yi]

Another ZeFrank masterpiece. I’m so glad(and entertained) that he finally did one on crows. I’ve always been mesmerized by the intellect of these amazing birds. Thanks Frank👍🏻

[@user-te8yq2ud6w]

I fed a family of 3 crows in front of my window this year, the behavior of the baby crow with its parents and how it developed was so interesting to watch. The little one is still super scared of everything, and doesnt understand snow at all. If food lands directly in front of him but in a tiny layer of snow, its just magically gone and he searches confused. The crows also like to drag sticks through the snow and shuffle through it upside-down

[@stalhein62]

I know the term is crow stick, but that's not what I'm hearing every single time. And the ending confirms that this was deliberate. Well played.

[@sallyrutledge4726]

I know.........🤣

[@Blues2Dark]

🤣

[@DanKaschel]

Was there ever any doubt

[@okluge85]

That's the joke lol

[@morganseppy5180]

I'm at the beginning.... yes

[@steve8234]

Crows are very smart animals. I started feeding one every morning. Then one day I went to work, and by the time I came home it packed up all my belongings, convinced my wife to get a restraining order against me, and moved into my house. I thought we had a mutual respect for eachother, but it was just trying to get with my wife.

[@skeetsmcgrew3282]

A tale as old as time

[@jackprier7727]

Fun read, thanks!-

[@ulflyng4072]

Does that mean you're a crowckold.....

[@davidmitnick868]

Common issue in my country. They charm their way into your life and then you end up the one sleeping in a tree.

[@christhefish11]

He had us in the first half y’all 😂

[@ftd888]

“But they might just be using trial and error without a real understanding.” They’re learning about the object (or whatever the new thing is) through the trial and error process. You’d see similar “mixed results” with humans … sometimes we can intuitively solve a problem, and sometimes we have to futz around until we figure out the correct solution. Crows seem to be smarter than most small children.

[@eldritchbeauty]

Right. Seems very much how many humans tackle a problem - if you don't get it right away, you go through trial and error until you figure it out. Honestly seems like an extremely high level of intelligence to me, as most of the greatest technological breakthroughs are done through trial and error.

[@kR-qj7rw]

Let's be fair to the kids out the crows on ipad ylurbe for hours on end to have the internet rot their brains

[@nickprohoroff3720]

As they sometimes used to say in Australia; 'stone the crows', indeed the crows had their own stones. And they knew how to use them. This is bloody marvelous.

[@alfredsupersauce]

The “but” vs “butt” joke never fails to get me😂

[@ethanhermsey]

Thank your butt brain

[@lilyhempt1144]

Buts are funny.

[@timber72]

Ten glorious years of True Facts, teaching adults who act like children about the natural world around us. Here's to 100 more!

[@YochevedDesigns]

This channel and Casual Geographic are my absolute favorites!

[@SigFigNewton]

100 more worlds! One can dream

[@user-lf3kr1nq2d]

@@SigFigNewton I think timber72 meant "100 more years".

[@SigFigNewton]

@@user-lf3kr1nq2d nah

[@LaBelleTinker]

Fun fact: I took behavioral ecology with Kaeli Swift back in 2008. She, of course, studied crow behavior. Specifically, whether they could learn to recognize people who fed them. To eliminate confounding variables, her volunteer feeders had to wear masks-of either Barack Obama (who fed them) or John McCain (who didn't).

[@dassemultor6940]

John McCain does come off as someone who wouldn't feed crows.

[@3ffrige]

That is freaking amazing! I just learned that New Caledonian crows are the only birds that CREATE and USE their own tools! These are amazingly smart corvids!

[@bilboes6634]

I like your disclaimer: "True Facts is not appropriate for children, nor adults who don't act like children", made me laugh

[@myTERAexperience]

1 of my fav crow stories is a lady feeding crows every day. One day she goes grocery shopping. Somehow she drops her keys to her home in the parking lot and gets home, frustrated she can't find her keys when she's home she sees a crow fly down to the fountain she has near her door. The crow flies away and she sees a glint in the water. She goes over and it's her keys. The crow brought her keys and washed them off for her.

[@johnmorris7815]

Crows are so clever and they play like kids, my wife and I were walking along a cliff top walk, the crows were jumping into the rising air current and landing just a few metres in front of us, they could’ve gone behind us at any time but they chose not to as they were clearly having a great time and probably thought these humans might be impressed enough to give them some food? They were right.

[@nemo-x]

11:10 You can literally see the "What. But... the cheese. I can't believe you've done this." in its motions. It's brilliant.

[@DaringDid]

I love how complex some of these trials got. Oh to meet the researchers who specialize in making Crow Escape rooms, i bet they love their job...

[@The1nvisibleJeevas]

Probably the same people who make minecraft modded puzzle games.

[@LindaC616]

I have seen grants awarded to people who wanted to determine if dogs favor their left front paw or their right the way people do....thatssome spinning...

[@anonperson3972]

You would be surprised, wildlife research can be really fucking frustrating 🤣

[@martincolvill5453]

Helps if you're a hippie.

[@kindlin]

@@LindaC616 Some spinning? You mean, deceptively phrasing or presenting information to lead someone to think a way they otherwise wouldn't? No, I believe the board knew exactly how that money was going to be used. It's an interesting question worth investigating. It could lead to better understanding in human brains, and a lot of other things.

[@cqwiii]

the transition from wood peckers to crow sticks is absolute gold 👍

[@84rinne_moo]

I think I replayed that 15 bazillion times before actually letting the rest of the video play lol

[@CarrotUK]

It was brilliant

[@OKBoomer2k]

"Crows' sticks" 😂

[@metalmamasue3680]

I was laughing so hard I had to watch it a few times to hear it over my laughing 🤣

[@staceyhollerauer6712]

I started watching these when they first came out, and my introduction to them was quite possibly the only good thing my ex ever did for me. Ze Frank, you have given us all something truly timeless. All of the episodes of this series have been not only things I circle back to when I need a break, but something I can introduce to my coming of age family that they love just as much as I do.

[@_shadow_1]

The thing that makes them intelligent isn't just that they can solve a puzzle, lots of animals can do that. It's that they can visualize a solution to it, make a plan, and use tools in their environment to carry out that plan.

[@icallmysugarcandy]

With all the talk about peckers, shafts and holes, I just want to congratulate Jerry on his restraint. Well done Jerry. You did much better than me on this one. 👍🏼❤️

[@360.Tapestry]

not to mention crow sticks and straight up dongs

[@colinyandon6137]

Not to mention the clear ne crow philia set up at the end.

[@freyashipley6556]

I was intrigued to learn that even the females have crowsticks.

[@dejEtack]

Your ability to be intelligent and immature simultaneously is awe-inspiring.

[@LindaC616]

Isn't it!?

[@scottimusgarrett15]

Jeebus, dude, yet another hilarious creation! I had two crows who would come by my work every day for five years, and I would share my breakfast muffin with them. Brilliant little animals!✌️❤️🙂🇨🇦

[@aetherograph]

We are literally witnessing them going thru the first stage of civilisation what a time to be alive. It's the Crow Stone Age.

[@NEPAAlchey]

I saw a raven at a zoo. I gave it a feather from another bird I found earlier. He took it, went back into his habitat and brought me a flower. Blew my mind that he felt the need to reciprocate

[@videorocketzmillar007milla5]

Love crows. After working graveyard, we come outside and our cars covered in crow stuff. I tell the crowd, hey! Stop pooping on my car and i will bring u bread tomorrow. Then i gave em whats left of my 3 a.m. lunch. Next morning everyones xar covered in crow poop. Not mine! Not one splat!! Hey good guys! Here is your bread..everyone eating and happy. Same for the rest of the months 🎉

[@darkvoid5978]

The fact the crow stopped making deals with that specific person , and not all humans shows that they may be smarter than us honestly

[@whyareyouhittingme]

I read the study on crows' causal understanding of water displacement some years ago. As far as the "mixed bag", the researchers essentially gave the crows a passing grade on four of the six tests, but looking at the raw data for one of the failures about two thirds of the crows were performing significantly better than chance. So I call that 5/6 with a minority of stupid crows dragging the average down.

[@darcieclements4880]

Yeah, one of the things that can confound these types of tests is that the individual intelligence of an animal as well as the amount of experience and what that experience is that that animal has had can make a huge difference. Sort of like how some dogs and cats completely understand mirrors and others act like they don't but probably just don't care because they do understand them and just don't care well other dogs and cats very clearly do not understand mirrors at all and think it's another animal. You can actually see all of those behaviors in a single animal as it learns how a mirror works and that gets forgotten a lot. Basically, just like people, smart animals need enough context and experience to be able to put things together. I would imagine that one of the benefits to career test animals is that they learn when they're going to be playing a game so they know whether or not they're actually going to be able to get something out of it and now they're going to start examining it and being like I wonder how I solve this puzzle. I know it's probably solvable because usually when the humans put me here it's going to be solvable but what is the solution? Kind of like how we play video games. We know that a video game always has a solution, which is different from real life when sometimes there isn't a solution. Also I've worked with a couple of career test animals before that even though they get a reward that is food, they don't like the food that well so at this point they just like to play the game and parade around the fact that they've gotten the food and then don't eat it. There's also one who would try to hoard all of this food to bring back to his girlfriend instead of eating it himself which was hilarious. I do think though that we don't talk enough about the career intelligence test animals that get to the point where they just like to do the test.

[@allisonjames2923]

@@darcieclements4880Lol hoarding the food for his gf is adorable! I remember once our dog was in trouble so was shut in the laundry & our cat actually took a big chunk of mince from his own bowl & put it outside the laundry door for her. So sweet. They grew up together & were definitely best friends or adopted siblings

[@thomaskilmer]

Yeah I imagine studying animal intelligence among smarter species gets complicated fast, for many of the same reasons studying human intelligence gets complicated. Like, we *still* don't have anything resembling a measure of innate intelligence for humans that's independent of our social environment and education, and people have tried. They have tried really hard.

[@tiacat11]

Just like when my science teacher graded on the curve in high school...

[@DrPDailyDosage]

Despite making up 16,6 percent of the crow population...

[@SarahJSweetheart]

I've NEVER understood the expression "bird brain" as birds can be some of the most intelligent animals on the planet. In fact, the only animal on record to ask an existential question was an African grey parrot called Alex. His mom taught him colours, shapes, numbers, objects and other manor of things,, but not the word for grey - so one day, completely unprompted, he turned around and asked "What color Alex?"😮 EDIT: Since then, his mom expressed regret teaching him his color because whenever someone who come round wearing grey he would scream "Grey! Grey like Alex! Grey friend!" 😂

[@darrennew8211]

I can't imagine regretting that reaction. :-)

[@trustmeits610pm2]

I think it's because no matter how clever some of the cleverer animals may be, they never go beyond the level of a human toddler. Which is still very dumb by human standards.

[@darrennew8211]

@@trustmeits610pm2 And *most* birds are pretty dumb. A few, like the crow, have evolved to interact with other animals. (They'll lead predators to prey so the crows can feast on the remains afterwards, for example.) The thing other animals don't do is build tools whose only purpose is to make other tools. They'll make hooks, but they won't make something that makes creating hooks easier. Nothing but humans will build a CNC machine, or even an anvil.

[@shadowdroid776]

​@@trustmeits610pm2That's not exactly true, corvids are on par of problem solving at the level of a 7 year old. However, that's problem solving skills, it's not the end all of observing intelligence (and we also can't say how smart an animal is by comparing them to humans because it isn't an efficient way to do so, different evolutionary paths and forms of communication and what not). A good amount of animals we know as highly intelligent are genuinely as smart as humans. I think what we get it mixed up with is maybe emotional intelligence? I dunno on that part though.

[@trustmeits610pm2]

@@shadowdroid776 As smart as humans? I don't buy that. Animals are, if we're being unbelievably generous, cavemen. At best. They bang sticks and stones together. That's not as impressive as anything humans have done. Not even close.

[@NaGosteDiste]

Once i was driving down a road and i saw a raven in the road with something in his beak and shortly before i reached him, he laid what it looked like a nut in the way of my right tire and the raven flew to the side of the road . I proceed to crush the nut and i see him very excited through my rear view mirror. I shared the same joy.

[@Banana-hammock.]

As a Crow, you have no idea what we are thinking, your tiny buckets are ours, thank you and Happy New Year!

[@WillyOrca]

When I was in college my calculus professor would leave half finished advanced mathematical equations on his chalkboard for us to start working on when we came in the next morning. Well at one point we started having this recurring issue where we'd come in and the equation would already be solved on the board. Turns out a crow was coming into the room after everyone was gone and solving any mathematical equations it saw on the board. Nobody suspected him either because he worked at the school as a night janitor.

[@laneyking2044]

That janitor's name? Crow Williams

[@englishatheart]

I think I saw a movie about that. Wasn't it called "Good Crow Hunting"?

[@ateammate223]

This is real I was the chalkboard

[@legendofnone3037]

Best comment😂

[@jerikeeley1361]

🤣🤣🤣

[@chihauhaun]

I just learned about the decoy crows nests that crows started making to confuse people in Japan who were trying to get rid of them. I've heard about decoy nests with other birds but never with humans. Crazy stuff. I befriended a crow myself that used to great me on my walk home from uni. I would say hello and I swear it sounded very much like "hello" in response. I even took a friend with me to prove to her I wasn't lying because she didn't believe me. They're so cool :)

[@madamlt5758]

“Kerplunk, num nums.” Now that can be used in a good or bad way depending on how you see it. It’s all perspective. 😂

[@amandaclemente7068]

Thank you Frank for promoting science with such an amazing humor and precious data and also thank you to all the scientists who dedicate their lives to studying our world so we can be amazed with how it works ❤

[@thesuburbanmorrigan]

Oh, also, I appreciate the shout-out to Dr. Kaeli Swift. She's a great resource on all things corvids, not just "funerals", and I've learned a lot from her.

[@empressmarowynn]

My city has become a stopover location for migrating crows. Every year we get thousands upon thousands of them. One year it was a lot colder and wetter than usual. Those evil geniuses managed to pry off the vent cover from my garage attic space and used it as a place to hang out during bad weather. Took me forever to realize it because they were quiet when I would go in or out of the garage. But now I purposely check the vent every migration season just in case those same crows return to my house.

[@AVToth]

I live on a ranch in Texas. I'm not sure if these are crows or ravens. Granted the old folks, I'm 64 so I mean the really old folks always called them "them big ol' meat eatin' crows" because there are small birds that look similar but are regular crows. The non-buzzard big black birds here, raven, crow, craven whatever, are comedy fans. When we first moved here, I was cutting cedar which gets boring, so while cutting I started trying to imitate their call, caw. I got fairly good and by that I mean it impressed my grandkids but the crows weren't fooled. Now when I go out in the morning, there will be one or two who will follow me while cawing. They won't stop until I call back. All I'm doing is repeating the pitch and rhythm, which are different, depending, like most animals. Once I finally call back, they make me do this at least twice, then they go on about their business. Sometimes I've finished my performance for one crow, it takes off and within about 5 minutes, it comes back with another and they pester me for another performance. I always imagine them saying "You gotta see this! It thinks it can speak and it's hysterical. Of course it isn't saying anything, just mimicking but I wonder if it thinks it's really talking?!" Somedays I'm exhausted from performance after performance and just want a quiet morning. Usually when they fly you can't hear them, they flap their wings taking off or flying over and it's silent. However, if I refuse to do my tricks ot if I did but when they brought a buddy, I refuse, they show their displeasure. When the fly away, they will make a pass over my head, not close or aggressive but enough that I can hear them flapping. I hear their feathers sort of rubbing together and their flapping looks like someone stomping their feet, kinda. All in all, they are amazing.

[@cglaurer]

Ze I know you are just having fun (and how can one not have fun with crows’ sticks) but man your voice is so great for this. You should be narrating serious shit, too. This is brilliant.

[@biggadigittydee7607]

I once watched a Corvid use the lid to a plastic cup as a snowboard. Love these little guys.

[@derrickhennessey7722]

“May not have suitable peckers, but what they do have is crows’ sticks”. This is some top tier word play.

[@CatOnACell]

I scatter chip crumbs when I need to walk through a bunch of crows on campus to avoid a grudge. Instead, they learned my schedule and started sitting at the point between the cafeteria and my class at lunch.

[@claytonharting9899]

I love the idea of calling the crow research stations restaurants. Now you mention it… an escape room restaurant would be pretty sick

[@brassbuckles]

It'd only be fun until you couldn't figure out how to reach the food you ordered. Imagine either having to eat cold food by the time you finally got it, or maybe not getting your food at all because the puzzle was too hard for you.

[@victor9]

12:58 yould be surprised, but funerals are actually some of the best places to get laid ☠️

[@thebowandbullet]

8:45 "After using a tool, they get more optimi-STICK" Well played, sir!

[@gatsby85749]

I have watched a lot, and I mean A LOT, of KZbin videos. Your content is once again, the most entertaining, well written, interesting, and hilarious on the internet. Thank you for the years of enjoyment ☺️

[@roblena7977]

Thankyou to the people that sent in the footage blown away by this kind of stuff.

[@DanGamingFan2846]

I've been hoping for this one, crows are one of my favorite birds. It's incredible just how intelligent and creative they are. Using tools is one thing, but the way they make them is really impressive. Also, I love the way you pronounce "crow stick." I can't unhear it and it's hilarious.

[@watershipup7101]

Very much agreed.

[@waterbullstudios9195]

I can't not pronounce it that way either.

[@LindaC616]

​@waterbullstudios9195 there's a linguistic explanation for it, and ZeFrank knows it! He's exploded, er, exploited it here, as per usual

[@midoriya-shonen]

New Caledonian Crows are some of the most fascinating animals on the planet. Thanks for covering them!

[@metalmamasue3680]

New Caledonia is also the native home for Crested Geckos, very popular in the pet trade 😊

[@CraftyF0X]

The old ones were idiots though xD

[@rebeccadebassige6804]

I didn't know how smart crows actually are! Love this video!

[@amymarie1298]

Watching crows unwrap tinfoil covered food in a construction site dumpster is amazing. They mange to get every last morsel of food out of an otherwise impossible to unwrap piece of garbage. they take great care to unwrap the food without consuming the wrapping because they know what is edible and what isn't. Or watching them work together to find a way to set a Styrofoam food box from a food truck upright so it doesn't spill any of the food out of it and the styrofoam box of food is in a dumpster in a very precarious position so that it might spill all of the contents with the slightest upset. They figure out how to set it up in a stable enough way to then feast from it without loosing any of the food out of it. Its crazy how smart they are. these birds are so cooperative and how much they share with each other after all of the work they do just to save food that would go to waste otherwise is also admirable. It's a pain in the ass because they can create the biggest mess that humans have to clean up in their search for food, but watching them is so amazing and rewarding that it's worth cleaning up the mess just to see how intelligent they are.

[@velvetmagnetta3074]

The crow family dynamics was fascinating to watch! The parents really shared teaching responsibilities and worked very harmoniously together to teach their chick how to dipstick! Just absolutely adorable! 🐦 🐥 🐦

[@metalmamasue3680]

I love my birds and critters, and I watch them. Some are more confident than others. It's very entertaining to keep feeders and suet cakes out. I aIso feed the resident chipmunks who have their own bowl of seeds/nuts by my back porch on the opposite side of the house from the feeders which can be bird grand central Station at times. They know I'm no threat and are comfortable feeding a few feet away while I enjoy my coffee on the back porch. They stuff their cheeks and are off to stash them for winter, then back again for more. The cardinals are the first/last birds to show up before daylight and feed before full dark. I hear them from inside lol. My favorites would have to be the red belly woodpeckers, the males are so loud and proud, they crack me up and also aren't afraid, I've seen them on the ground, put their head down and charge at some grackles, running them off. I adore the wrens, the little brown birds who don't know they're little brown birds. They seem to have staken their claim over the outside area of our property. My son got me a small birdhouse last mother's day and when they are nesting they are very protective. They will scold me before I even go outside when I peek out the glass pane in the door 🤣. And they have sat on the ground a few feet away from my son when he was working on the car, letting him know exactly how displeased they were about that. One even dive bombed him, he was so surprised at how bold they are but amused at the same time. He messaged me inside the house and said I think I just met your birds you've told me about 😅 but I could hear them from inside lol It's hilarious and they make big noise for little birds. They have no fear apparently 😂😂 I can go onto my back porch and one will be watching from 50 yards away in a tree and as soon as I go out it starts, my scolding, then it flies closer and even will set a few feet away and scold me. I love them, so feisty and bold. Anyone who doesn't think animals are smart, with a mind of their own and distinct personalities, knows little about them. That goes from reptiles to birds and mammals too, we've kept many different ones and people would impulse buy a reptile and then have no idea how to care for them so we would end up with them. My profile picture is of a baby snapping turtle who showed up and my door a few years back, lost on his way to wherever he was going. It was dark so I kept him until he was a bit larger and could fend for himself, then released him back into his wild home. In the picture, I had just fed him an hour before and he was giving me that "feed me Seymour" look 🤣 it's my favorite picture of him. They're now saying bears are on par with primates for intelligence. If that doesn't make you a little scared, idk what will. I've been fascinated by and alternately terrified of the power of grizzIy/bIack bears since I was a child. I would love to see some zefrank videos about more birds and bears too. But I enjoy them all and laugh out loud the whole way through 😅 Animals make life so much more interesting and I love watching these videos to learn exactly how smart they are. Corvids are so smart. If I see one in my rural area, I'm going to have to befriend one. I'm also planning on getting some meal worms for the wrens as a peace offering so we can continue to live in their world 😂😂

[@jonpatchmodular]

Also young adult crows will often help their parents raise the newer generations! They even celebrate family gatherings once in a while. These birds are deeply fascinating.

[@RD9_Designs]

Male wrens scold anyone in "their" territory like redheaded stepchildren! We had a mated pair raise several generations inside our screened in porch, where I sit all hours of the day and night. Mama didn't mind me being there at all, but at the Crack of dawn, papa came in to trill his territory at the amazingly loud top of his tiny lungs! Sadly, last year, Mama bird flew into a glass door and died. I was really sad about that.... but regularly, the babies come back to inspect the nest, but can never remember how to get back out, and are severely alarmed when I get up to open the door, thus never coming back to nest... but it is good to see them! I still heard papa bird scolding around his territory (our back yard) up until earlier this year, but, no more. We have several huge owls in the area that keep down the squirrel population, as well as the birds. I'm guessing that's what happened to papa bird. :-( But listening to the owls is amazing! They're huge, and make a sound like who who WHO who-who... when they're ready to mate, the male and female's calls devolve into a cackling laughter! I love it, and I love listening to them! I don't really mind that they keep the squirrel population down, because in years where there were too many and they were starving, I've seen them kill and eat baby birds. And no, we don't feed any of the wildlife, because that just draws the raccoons and opossums to our yard, which we don't want!

[@CrownofMischief]

12:30 just don't be caught around a dead crow. The rest of the murder will think you did it and freak out whenever they recognize you. Apparently there was a guy who tried to help an injured crow chick, but it ended up dying before he could save it. The crowd thought he killed it and now they swoop at him whenever they see him

[@TheAgamidaex]

oh noo

[@jc4jax]

And now his watch is ended

[@aemcapello]

Even the most interesting animal stories are still so much better and much more entertaining when narrated by Ze Frank 🙌🙏🤗

[@chrispharmd2077]

I went to school with a kid who had a crow he was feeding. That crow came to school with us and sat down at an empty desk. The crow went on to graduate and somehow ended up in Medical School. Me nor my friend passed 8th grade.

[@rogerjacobs5240]

I live in the Pacific Northwest, a stones throw from Puget Sound. The local crows will fly down to the beach at low tide looking for small clams, and mussels. the shells are to hard for them to peck through so they've learned to fly about 50 feet in the air and drop them on the sidewalk or parking lot breaking them open to get at the meat inside. Smart little critters! Love your stuff Ze Frank! 👍

[@julietardos5044]

Reminds me of a similar story. These crows lived in a city where there were nut trees growing. The crows would take the nuts and drop them in a crosswalk. When the signal turned green, cars would drive over the nuts and crack their shells. When the signal turned red and the cars stopped, the crows would fly down to the crosswalk and eat the nut meats out of the cracked shells.

[@markgarin6355]

Check out my posting, I saw yours afterwards. Happened in Olympia

[@BonaparteBardithion]

I've seen crows in the same general area walk across streets using the marked crosswalks. Drivers don't always respect that, but I figure that if crows learned pedestrians are safe there they deserve the same right of way.

[@b.jr.7816]

seagulls do that too, so it’s definitely not a sign of intelligence

[@Dreamcass]

Yeah, those were jungle crows in Japan. But several times I've seen American crows do the very same at a certain intersection in Aloha, Oregon. I think they were dropping sweetgum fruit.@@julietardos5044

[@squatchjosh1131]

7:00 That "here comes an even smarter crow" is a great sociology joke

[@tarico4436]

If the ess really did hit the fan, I'm seeing a lot of so-called preppers getting their stuff quickly taken from them... by the smarter "crows."

[@nathanielbeven9052]

i feed a few squirrls in the winter and red tail hawks hunt the squirrles. well crows came by, i would feed them the same food as the squirrles. i swear, they knew the food was initially for the squirrles because they began to mafia up the red tail hawks when they got close. before i fed them with the squirrles, they just ignored the hawks. now the crows have look outs on a paremeter to assure no hawks get close to the area.

[@Wladislav]

I can only applaud at the line delivery of _"New Caledonian crows may not have suitable peckers, but what they do have is crows' sticks."_

[@davidgapp1457]

Crows and Ravens are incredibly smart, have great memories and form bonds (with humans). My mother hosted a crow and whenever I went to visit her the crow would quickly come for a meet and greet. Yes, I did feed him (or her) but it was the fact he always recognized me that was amazing. He also allowed me to touch him and had a gesture (a head movement) that indicated he was receptive to being petted. Treat a raven or crow well, and you can have a (wild) friend for life.

[@edwardlulofs444]

Yes, I’ve heard some of this from others. And thanks for adding to my knowledge. There’s lots to learn from crows.

[@batzzz2044]

See I thought the same thing. Now all of them in town folliw me around and beg for peanuts. It's become a thing......

[@wimsylogic65]

I have pictures of me playing with a pet raven knows a toddler. My mom rescued it, had a broken wing she nursed it back to health. It played with me like it was Protecting me.

[@edwardlulofs444]

@@batzzz2044 one can never have too many friends. You never know when you might need a friend’s help.

[@batzzz2044]

@@edwardlulofs444 I love em don't get me wrong lol.

[@dh7109]

I just wanted to say that this is quite possibly my favorite KZbin channel. I have watched just about every true facts video that has come out. I love nature. And I love humor. This is the perfect place for my brainmeats. Thank you for doing what you do. You're really appreciated.

[@lstockley7902]

Zefrank has mastered the art of blending humor with scientific fact. It’s delightful.

[@RD9_Designs]

You wrote 'thank you for COMING what you do'.... ya might want to consider correcting that.

[@dh7109]

@@RD9_Designs I fixed the coming bit, but I'm sure he smiled if he read it. Autocorrect hates me. Thanks for playing!!!

[@OceanSwimmer]

I spent a pleasant afternoon at a nearby beach watching a murder of 5 young crows playing "keep away" with a stick they passed back n forth in flight. The location for the game regularly had steady updrafts from the cliffs, so the crows could soar, tumble, and remain airborne while playing. They were fairly quiet, just a croak now n then while they flew nonstop passing a stick back n forth, claw to claw. It continued about 45-50 minutes nonstop. No fights, just play.

[@keithknows1809]

What's more fascinating is that the NC crows don't learn to make their tools by watching the process, they can't be bothered to see how it's done. They focus all of their attention on their parents final tool design and just figure out the process on their own.

[@QuantumWaltz]

That does help explain the varying techniques in hook-crafting ahaha "I dunno how Mom did it but if I yank REAL HARD it comes out the way I want it and that's good enough for me"

[@Pete_Finch]

If you haven't befriended a corvid yet, do it. It's not hard - they're among the smartest animals on the planet and will recognize your good nature as well as your face very quickly. I managed to get an entire extended family making specific calls to me to get me to come outside after feeding them for a few weeks (blueberries, grapes, peanuts). I'd sometimes take a run and encounter them many blocks away from my house, and the brave among them would come down and hop beside me to see if I had any food for them while making those same specific calls (not just general caws, new and unique sounds they came up with on their own which I reciprocated). The experiment I'm doing now is wearing a blue baseball cap while on a run to see how well they recognize me. So far, it seems they're not phased at all by the changed appearance and know it's me regardless. Family members of mine that they don't recognize cause them to fly away in short order, it's so wild

[@ShiraCheshire]

My crows can recognize me no matter what I'm wearing as well, I don't know how they do it! I'm usually wearing a mask, so it's not like they recognize my face in detail. Maybe they associate the mask itself with me? But tons of people wear the same kind of mask here. They recognize me if my hair is up or down, if I'm in a T-Shirt or coat or hoodie with the hood up, even if I'm under an umbrella! (They don't like the umbrella though, even when they do recognize me. The sound it makes when it opens startles them, so they're wary around it.)

[@arealhuman826]

I remember a night where im telling you THOUSANDS of crows descended on my neighborhood, covering every tree, power line, car, bench, everything, all squawking. Apparently they do this and hold these meetings whenever a crow is killed by an owl

[@bland9876]

Just another reason that crows and Ravens are some of my favorite animals.

[@danasandoval624]

I can see it now on those tv selling commercials, get your crow stick, several ways to insert it into holes, order within the next 24 hrs & we will send you 2 you get one at no extra charge, you just pay shipping.

[@touremuhammad5983]

Crows are crazy smart, & might I add, vengeful. Seriously, my dog chased a few crows off our front lawn once, & since then, a flock of up to 10 of them are perched outside our front door every morning, waiting for one of us to take our dog on his morning walk, and as soon as they see him, they all dive-bomb him in shifts, going for his head & his tail every time. This has been going on for 6 years now & hasn’t stopped since.

[@obsessionmine]

Wow 6 years? Time to get them some nice food and make a formal apology and peace gesture lol. They win

[@leyrua]

​@@obsessionmine Put the food outside the back door a few minutes before going outside with the dog. Eventually they can probably figure out how to teach the crows that dive bombing the dog means no treats.

[@touremuhammad5983]

@@obsessionmineYeah, my backyard has a pitbull that regularly chews up anything smaller than him like a chew toy, including anything that moves. Soooo,… 😐

[@Victoria-dh9vb]

​@touremuhammad5983 Yeeeah, I'd put out the peace offering before going for your walks, and make a covered catio style enclosure in the back yard to establish a de-milatarized zone

[@ricklotter]

Wow, Ze's comments were on fire today... I was laughing to hard I was having trouble being amazed by how smart crows are!

[@jeffreyrumbold9363]

Oh, yeah! I had to watch it twice; the first time for the laughs, and the second time to ensure I learned the lesson!

[@dinchy12]

Have you seen last scene? They got from most intelligent bird to Holywood pretty quick...

[@ciara2892]

Our murder visits our house daily, and after years of feeding them, my mother has finally received her first trinkets. We live nowhere near the ocean, but they leave us shells!

[@powerofanime1]

That "reneging on the cheese" experiment is so cruel. Why do they have to doom that woman to crow hate through no real choice of her own??? "You're right, Jerry, this one does look exploded." XD Priceless as ever!