Crows — Smart Way To Signal Spring — Dave’s Diary

I heard my first robin yesterday. Turdus migratorius has a distinctive sound which is a sure sign of spring.  But robins aren’t the only aerial arrivals to signal the end to winter. Crows--big, black and loud--crows are everywhere and they are smarter than you think.New research finds the birds have about the same reasoning ability as a seven-year-old child.

To find this, researchers put the birds through tests such as the "water displacement test" in which the bird had to catch floating food rewards by dropping rocks into water-filled tubes. Researchers say their tests revealed the birds have the ability to drop sinking rather than floating objects, solid rather than hollow objects, and the ability to distinguish between a tube filled with water and a tube filled with sand.

Researchers say the birds are also the only non-primate species known to create tools that they use to get grubs out of logs and branches. Now that is something to crow about!  Welcome home black beauties.  Give us a caw sometime.  (Daily Mail)