Many studies have been done on the intelligence of the Corvidae family and here is my own version. Note that this is in South Africa and over here we have the Pied Crow (Corvus albus) species.
I was amazed at the dexterity of the crow, as it didn't destroy the container.
Instead, he opened it neatly to see what's inside. This told me that it was not the first time for the crow to do this type of thing and bear in mind that he has received no training. The crow is a self-taught entrepreneur:)
We also have other species of the Corvidae family here, such as the White-necked Raven, Cape black crow and the House crow, but the pied crows are the most dominant in the built-up areas.
So, come and let's see how clever this crow is.
I will start from the beginning. The crow landed on this bin and there was a sealed container at the top of the bin.
Corvids display remarkable intelligence for animals of their size and are among the most intelligent birds thus far studied. Specifically, members of the family have demonstrated self-awareness in mirror tests (Eurasian magpies) and tool-making ability (e.g. crows and rooks, skills which until recently were thought to be possessed only by humans and a few other higher mammals. Their total brain-to-body mass ratio is equal to that of non-human great apes and cetaceans, and only slightly lower than that of humans.
The crow gave me a quick look, but I was no danger to it, as I was at a distance away from him and on my zoom.
Now here's the clever part. He bit off the top corner of the container lid.
Stuck his beak into the open top corner, grabbed the lid and flipped the lid off the container.
Bang! Easy as you please as the container was now open and the crow took a little taste of the contents to see if it is up to his quality standards :)
Then it was lunch time and he filled his stomach.
Finally with a full stomach the crow was off to go and tell the gang that he found some food.
And he conveniently left the container open for his new lunch guests.
Some cleaner is going to blame the wind for blowing the container open :)
Then I left the scene to go and have some hot coffee.
Some clever points to mention here. Firstly, the crow was very neat in his actions. He knew that his chances were good to find food inside the container, as it was sealed. People normally crumple things up when they throw it into the bins. Then we see that the crow did not jump down to get the lid in order to place it back on the container, as he knew that other birds would also want to eat. The crow was also clever enough to test the food before he ate it, as it might have been poisonous.
We have to give the crow the credit for his intelligence.
I hope that you have enjoyed the pictures and the story.
And That's All Friends.
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.
Until next time, Zac.