Animals
Did You Know Crows Discriminate Languages?
Crows recognize faces. But did you know they are more alert when they hear an unfamiliar language?
“On a bare branch a crow is perched — autumn evening.”
― Bashō
Matsuo Bashō (松尾 芭蕉, 1644 —1694) was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. He is the greatest master of haiku (then called hokku). But he is not the primary focus of my communication with you today. We’ll learn about how crows can discriminate between different human languages.
Crows are quite intelligent and recall human faces linked with stressful situations for up to five years, and they’ll also warn their friends. They can use tools to dig food out of tight spots. I walk around my work neighborhood frequently and often muse what the creatures are saying. But until I stumbled across some recent research study reports, I had not thought about whether they understand what we humans are saying. Turns out that folks smarter than I are investing in the corvid brain.
Don’t cross a crow
Yes, that crow you treated poorly can remember your face. The birds can recall human faces associated with stressful situations for up to five years. My local institution, the University of…
