Tom Cox @cox tom
Almost certainly the best thing I wa ever told about owls was when I met an owl handler and he told me that the wild owls in the sanctuary where he worked worried about the tame show owls there and sometimes stopped by to leave them shrews and mice as presents.
Isn’t bird singing a rudimentary language ? They have different songs with different meanings
I mean as in they can describe appearances and events to each other, but probably not formulate any plans more complex than eat here, avoid that place, attack guys dressed up in Jason Voorhees costumes because three generations ago a guy dressed like that messed around with our nests… stuff like that
One time I tried to talk to a crow by telling it to caw once for yes, twice for no.
Grabbed its attention with a friendly greeting, to which it turned and looked at me, waiting for what I’d say, keeping eye-contact and everything.
I asked it if it actually was a crow, since I wasn’t sure. It cawed once, and patiently waited for me to speak again, looking at me all curious. I said Thank you, and it looked like it nodded.
Obviously I have no idea if that bird actually understands that crow is what humans call it, but it did feel like I had an actual conversation with it.
The last one was an experiment to see what corvids teach to their young and what knowledge is just inborn to them.