![]() I would argue that crows can probably identify certain species of mammalian predators (such as cats, raccoons, squirrels, etc) by listening to their vocalizations, but again, I’m not aware of any studies that examined this. I am not aware of any studies that examined whether crows respond to the alarm calls of mammals. Crows will respond to the alarm calls of other birds to learn about a predator’s location.Ĭan crows communicate with other corvids?Ĭrows will respond to the alarm calls of other corvids (for example, it’s quite common in Seattle for a Steller’s jay to find a sleeping owl, alarm call, and subsequently attract a mob of crows).Īny evidence they listen to mammals? Like would they respond to a squirrel alarm call and vice versa? Crow-other animal communicationĭo crows eavesdrop on other birds to learn new information? When other crows arrive, they watch what the calling crow does to identify which person is dangerous (the screaming bird is divebombing the black-haired human with the red shirt I better remember him). If a crow sees a dangerous person, they communicate the presence of danger via vocalizations (“danger here”). “the dangerous human has black hair and a red shirt”), but they can do so indirectly. If a crow starts scolding you, you know it considers you a threat.Ĭan crows describe specific people to other crows? I don’t know about good graces, but you can certainly tell if you’re in a crow’s bad graces by the sounds they make. As to the personalized greeting, that’s possible, but I don’t know for certain.Ĭan you tell if you are in a crow’s good graces by the sounds it makes? I have a family of crows that come to my office window, and they’ve learned that if they give a rattle call, I’ll feed them (this is actually because I’m often too focused on my computer to notice them unless they call). Yes, crows will certainly try to use sounds to get their feeder’s attention. This would let the person call the crows to them over long distances.ĭo crows try and get the attention of their human feeders with sounds? Might these sounds be just for them (like a specific name or greeting)? Crows are smart animals and they’ll quickly learn to associate “their” person’s call with imminent food. Should people give a signature sound when feeding “their” crows? I don’t know if crows see our vocalizations as an attempt at communication, but they might see it as step one in a series of steps that ends with them being fed- they are vocalizing back to the person because the last time they tried, the person fed them afterwards. If a person and a crow regularly interact (usually because the person reliably feeds the crows), then it’s fairly common for ritualistic behavior to develop, especially if the behavior is rewarded with food. Do you think crows notice when we vocalize at them and attempt to vocalize back? ![]() Many people describe situations where they feel they have experienced “conversations” with crows, meaning a back and forth exchange of sounds. Please feel free to leave any additional questions in the comments! I hope you find these answers helpful, or at least illuminating into all that is left to be discovered. For Part II, Loma answered follower-supplied questions on all things crow communication. In Part I of this series I overviewed a new study from my colleague, Loma Pendergraft, about why crows call after discovering food.
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