there's already one, at least in 3.5. Tengu from MM3.
No no no. Not humanoid crows. I mean... an actual murder of crow as a player character. I think it would be an interesting experiment to role play as a murder of crows. They would be a non-human intelligence, but they are familiar enough that you know they don't behave anything like humans so you wouldn't just conflate human intelligence on to a non-human intelligence.
So I watched a video where scientists attached a camera to the tail feathers of a crow so it observed the doings of the crow from under its body. During footage that shows it picking up a stick to use elsewhere, it shits, which falls right in front of the camera.
So I watched a video where scientists attached a camera to the tail feathers of a crow so it observed the doings of the crow from under its body. During footage that shows it picking up a stick to use elsewhere, it shits, which falls right in front of the camera.
there's already one, at least in 3.5. Tengu from MM3.
Do you mean Kenku? Anyways, I saw a crow for the first time in Dallas last week. I've always wanted a pet one before. I hear that you can get a non-native species of crow or raven though it's hella expensive.....maybe some day.:|
I love the birds from the Corvidae family. Too bad I don't see many ravens around where I live. It's mostly Corvus Cornix, but I'm not a big fan of the dirty grey coloring they have. Corvus Corax are much more awesome. Corvus Monedula are also around quite a bit.
So, today is rubbish day and all the rubbish bins are out on the street. One of my neighbours overfilled their bin, so the lid was partially open. A murder of crows was taking advantage of this, gathering around the trash bin and picking scraps out of the trash.
So, I see this and I let out a loud caw in their direction. They all raise their heads and turn and look at me with a look of, "What the hell did he just say?" Then they all started sneaking glances at each other, probably thinking "Did the hairless monkey just say 'cheese kittens'? What the hell does that even mean?" And then they went back to scavenging.
If they could, I swear the crows would have done the Picard facepalm at the expense of my idiocy.
When I used to live in California, we had a cat, and I would constantly see him sitting on top of our fence with a whole bunch of crows, like 15 of them, flying around and diving at him, with him batting away and having a blast--they never once touched him or tried to hurt them, but rather they seemed to be enjoying it as much as he was. It was so odd.
Fantastic. I remember seeing what were, at least to me, huge crows while living in Yokohama. In retrospect, I'm sure they were merely medium-sized urban crows, but all the same. I do recall having seen them drop nuts (and other things, like snacks or cookies in small containers) while flying, but I'd never see any of them actually master the use of traffic, much less wait at a pedestrian crossing.
It's amazing that the crow was willing to go through that much trouble--perhaps they just really like the taste of nuts?
Corvus, have you ever been to Vancouver Island? Say, Parksville? I camped at Rath Trevor campground all the time when I was a kid and the place was literally ruled by crows. Hilarious actually. They're sly devils.
Frankly it reminded me of some stoner college student trying to steal his buddy's food. Reduced to animal noises and all that. And his buddy feels too sorry for him to do anything other than "zipping his shit up".
Haha, and he gives him water later, but the stoner bird can't open it.
On a serious note I would have been truly impressed if the raven was able to open a spout top of a water bottle.
The part that actually impresses me most is that it knows how to open it, realizes that it can't, gets frustrated, and just hits the thing.
EDIT: The guy has a whole series of videos from this one encounter. The bird ends up following him when he tries to leave the campground table. Awesome.
When I was a little kid, I always pretended I was the hero,' Skip said.
'Fuck yeah, me too. What little kid ever pretended to be part of the lynch-mob?'
Crows always attack me and I hate them for it. It got worse when I dyed my hair black. Basically, fuck crows, and I am at war with them.
Rest in peace, nameless. You may not know it, but you've already lost the battle. You may not be dead today, but if you're at war with the crows, you will be.
I've been working in a national park lately and among the wildlife we commonly see are some enormous crows; they're about twice the size of the crows that we usually see around here.
I fear that they may be some form of selectively-bred supercrow, who will form the warrior caste of our coming New World Order.
Frankly, I am assuming that there is a secret Crow cabal that is developing mechanical thumbs. It will just be easier if I start accepting it now.
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When I was a little kid, I always pretended I was the hero,' Skip said.
'Fuck yeah, me too. What little kid ever pretended to be part of the lynch-mob?'
Hunh. It's interesting that they're such effective tool-users while being, you know, literal birdbrains. I wonder how much direct brain science has been done on them to explain why they seem better able to adapt to tool using than any animal except us. I mean an ape would be cool, but not exactly surprising. A bird is just weird.
Edit: I mean, the most interesting part to me is that, at least I think it's likely, crows are not actually very "smart". They certainly shouldn't be better at abstract goal-oriented thinking than any given great ape, but they're obviously better than anything we've seen at figuring out tools. And even weirder, these articles mention that the crows don't seem to use tools in the wild. So what makes them good at it, but never comes up in their daily lives? And why would they get so good when some things with friggin thumbs are still pretty bad?
Hunh. It's interesting that they're such effective tool-users while being, you know, literal birdbrains. I wonder how much direct brain science has been done on them to explain why they seem better able to adapt to tool using than any animal except us. I mean an ape would be cool, but not exactly surprising. A bird is just weird.
Edit: I mean, the most interesting part to me is that, at least I think it's likely, crows are not actually very "smart". They certainly shouldn't be better at abstract goal-oriented thinking than any given great ape, but they're obviously better than anything we've seen at figuring out tools. And even weirder, these articles mention that the crows don't seem to use tools in the wild. So what makes them good at it, but never comes up in their daily lives? And why would they get so good when some things with friggin thumbs are still pretty bad?
A bird isn't so weird. Keep in mind that, along with mammals, birds are the most highly evolved class on the planet. Also, it's been long accepted that brain size doesn't matter. I mean, whales have brains that weigh more than you or I, but aren't more intelligent than us.
However, I disagree. I think it's likely that crows are actually very smart. They engage in tool making, but beyond that, they engage in tool making that involves transforming objects they haven't seen in nature. For example, the video of the crow making a hook out of a paper clip demonstrates that the crow is able to reason about the immutable properties of a paper clip and then transform it into something useful.
One of my middle school teachers had a theory that crows were slowly evolving to be bigger and bigger, noting that crows we see around now are a lot bigger than ones she remembered seeing as a kid. She figured that this would continue until they were the size of velociraptors and started either hunting humans or just breaking into our kitchens and taking food directly out of the fridge.
Hunh. It's interesting that they're such effective tool-users while being, you know, literal birdbrains. I wonder how much direct brain science has been done on them to explain why they seem better able to adapt to tool using than any animal except us. I mean an ape would be cool, but not exactly surprising. A bird is just weird.
Edit: I mean, the most interesting part to me is that, at least I think it's likely, crows are not actually very "smart". They certainly shouldn't be better at abstract goal-oriented thinking than any given great ape, but they're obviously better than anything we've seen at figuring out tools. And even weirder, these articles mention that the crows don't seem to use tools in the wild. So what makes them good at it, but never comes up in their daily lives? And why would they get so good when some things with friggin thumbs are still pretty bad?
Actually, crows have displayed, in many ways, better abstract thinking than chimpanzees and gorillas. Also, I don't know why these articles say that crows don't use tools in the wild, I'm pretty sure I have seen multiple accounts of them doing so.
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I thought that one you posted mentioned that. Oh, but now that I think about it it's probably "tools they don't use in the wild" or something, mentioning that they adapt to lab conditions.
Still, though, why crows specifically? Why no other bird? Have we just not observed it in other birds? I wonder if they teach, or if this comes to each of them naturally. It boggles the hell out of me.
Hunh. It's interesting that they're such effective tool-users while being, you know, literal birdbrains. I wonder how much direct brain science has been done on them to explain why they seem better able to adapt to tool using than any animal except us. I mean an ape would be cool, but not exactly surprising. A bird is just weird.
Edit: I mean, the most interesting part to me is that, at least I think it's likely, crows are not actually very "smart". They certainly shouldn't be better at abstract goal-oriented thinking than any given great ape, but they're obviously better than anything we've seen at figuring out tools. And even weirder, these articles mention that the crows don't seem to use tools in the wild. So what makes them good at it, but never comes up in their daily lives? And why would they get so good when some things with friggin thumbs are still pretty bad?
A bird isn't so weird. Keep in mind that, along with mammals, birds are the most highly evolved class on the planet. Also, it's been long accepted that brain size doesn't matter. I mean, whales have brains that weigh more than you or I, but aren't more intelligent than us.
However, I disagree. I think it's likely that crows are actually very smart. They engage in tool making, but beyond that, they engage in tool making that involves transforming objects they haven't seen in nature. For example, the video of the crow making a hook out of a paper clip demonstrates that the crow is able to reason about the immutable properties of a paper clip and then transform it into something useful.
God help us when one of the little buggers figures out how to sharpen something. We're all dead.
I thought that one you posted mentioned that. Oh, but now that I think about it it's probably "tools they don't use in the wild" or something, mentioning that they adapt to lab conditions.
Still, though, why crows specifically? Why no other bird? Have we just not observed it in other birds? I wonder if they teach, or if this comes to each of them naturally. It boggles the hell out of me.
There was this guy on NPR regaling us with a tale of how he'd wronged a certain crow, and for years after that every crow in the murder... even subsequent generations of crows... would squawk at him, and only him, whenever he passed by their roost. I guess he'd assumed that the original crow had spread the word that this dude was baaaaad.
I thought that one you posted mentioned that. Oh, but now that I think about it it's probably "tools they don't use in the wild" or something, mentioning that they adapt to lab conditions.
Still, though, why crows specifically? Why no other bird? Have we just not observed it in other birds? I wonder if they teach, or if this comes to each of them naturally. It boggles the hell out of me.
They DEFINITELY do teach each other. There was an experiment where the researcher set up a vending machine that took normal coins and dispensed food. The researcher scattered coins around the vending machine and the crows learned to deposit the coins to get food.
Then, the researcher stopped scattering coins and the crows left. However, occasionally, a crow would come back with a coin and deposit it to get food. In addition to that, crows that weren't part of the original group were coming to the vending machine and depositing coins to get food.
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FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
I thought that one you posted mentioned that. Oh, but now that I think about it it's probably "tools they don't use in the wild" or something, mentioning that they adapt to lab conditions.
Still, though, why crows specifically? Why no other bird? Have we just not observed it in other birds? I wonder if they teach, or if this comes to each of them naturally. It boggles the hell out of me.
There was this guy on NPR regaling us with a tale of how he'd wronged a certain crow, and for years after that every crow in the murder... even subsequent generations of crows... would squawk at him, and only him, whenever he passed by their roost. I guess he'd assumed that the original crow had spread the word that this dude was baaaaad.
I thought that one you posted mentioned that. Oh, but now that I think about it it's probably "tools they don't use in the wild" or something, mentioning that they adapt to lab conditions.
Still, though, why crows specifically? Why no other bird? Have we just not observed it in other birds? I wonder if they teach, or if this comes to each of them naturally. It boggles the hell out of me.
They DEFINITELY do teach each other. There was an experiment where the researcher set up a vending machine that took normal coins and dispensed food. The researcher scattered coins around the vending machine and the crows learned to deposit the coins to get food.
Then, the researcher stopped scattering coins and the crows left. However, occasionally, a crow would come back with a coin and deposit it to get food. In addition to that, crows that weren't part of the original group were coming to the vending machine and depositing coins to get food.
That's just awesome.
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ArchonexNo hard feelings, right?Registered Userregular
I thought that one you posted mentioned that. Oh, but now that I think about it it's probably "tools they don't use in the wild" or something, mentioning that they adapt to lab conditions.
Still, though, why crows specifically? Why no other bird? Have we just not observed it in other birds? I wonder if they teach, or if this comes to each of them naturally. It boggles the hell out of me.
They DEFINITELY do teach each other. There was an experiment where the researcher set up a vending machine that took normal coins and dispensed food. The researcher scattered coins around the vending machine and the crows learned to deposit the coins to get food.
Then, the researcher stopped scattering coins and the crows left. However, occasionally, a crow would come back with a coin and deposit it to get food. In addition to that, crows that weren't part of the original group were coming to the vending machine and depositing coins to get food.
That's just awesome.
The big question I want to know is, do they teach their young these things? The comment about the NPR guy getting harassed by generations of crow's makes me think so.
If that's the case, we need to start exterminating them now.
Just think, two hundred years from now, they'll have discovered a system to effectively use pistols and knives, and a lucky crow that slips into a nuclear missile silo will return to his black-feathered compatriots and tell them the secret to wiping humanity from the face of the planet.
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there's already one, at least in 3.5. Tengu from MM3.
No no no. Not humanoid crows. I mean... an actual murder of crow as a player character. I think it would be an interesting experiment to role play as a murder of crows. They would be a non-human intelligence, but they are familiar enough that you know they don't behave anything like humans so you wouldn't just conflate human intelligence on to a non-human intelligence.
Good God man, how do you carry your Electrum?
Do you mean Kenku? Anyways, I saw a crow for the first time in Dallas last week. I've always wanted a pet one before. I hear that you can get a non-native species of crow or raven though it's hella expensive.....maybe some day.:|
Has this been posted?
Freakin crazy!
So, I see this and I let out a loud caw in their direction. They all raise their heads and turn and look at me with a look of, "What the hell did he just say?" Then they all started sneaking glances at each other, probably thinking "Did the hairless monkey just say 'cheese kittens'? What the hell does that even mean?" And then they went back to scavenging.
If they could, I swear the crows would have done the Picard facepalm at the expense of my idiocy.
PSN: SAW776
Fantastic. I remember seeing what were, at least to me, huge crows while living in Yokohama. In retrospect, I'm sure they were merely medium-sized urban crows, but all the same. I do recall having seen them drop nuts (and other things, like snacks or cookies in small containers) while flying, but I'd never see any of them actually master the use of traffic, much less wait at a pedestrian crossing.
It's amazing that the crow was willing to go through that much trouble--perhaps they just really like the taste of nuts?
Also this video is AWESOME:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2E7akTESzA&feature=related
I love how he talks to it like a human.
Haha, and he gives him water later, but the stoner bird can't open it.
On a serious note I would have been truly impressed if the raven was able to open a spout top of a water bottle.
EDIT: The guy has a whole series of videos from this one encounter. The bird ends up following him when he tries to leave the campground table. Awesome.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8181233.stm
Rest in peace, nameless. You may not know it, but you've already lost the battle. You may not be dead today, but if you're at war with the crows, you will be.
I fear that they may be some form of selectively-bred supercrow, who will form the warrior caste of our coming New World Order.
Edit: I mean, the most interesting part to me is that, at least I think it's likely, crows are not actually very "smart". They certainly shouldn't be better at abstract goal-oriented thinking than any given great ape, but they're obviously better than anything we've seen at figuring out tools. And even weirder, these articles mention that the crows don't seem to use tools in the wild. So what makes them good at it, but never comes up in their daily lives? And why would they get so good when some things with friggin thumbs are still pretty bad?
A bird isn't so weird. Keep in mind that, along with mammals, birds are the most highly evolved class on the planet. Also, it's been long accepted that brain size doesn't matter. I mean, whales have brains that weigh more than you or I, but aren't more intelligent than us.
However, I disagree. I think it's likely that crows are actually very smart. They engage in tool making, but beyond that, they engage in tool making that involves transforming objects they haven't seen in nature. For example, the video of the crow making a hook out of a paper clip demonstrates that the crow is able to reason about the immutable properties of a paper clip and then transform it into something useful.
Highlights include building dummy nest and causing a blackout.
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Actually, crows have displayed, in many ways, better abstract thinking than chimpanzees and gorillas. Also, I don't know why these articles say that crows don't use tools in the wild, I'm pretty sure I have seen multiple accounts of them doing so.
Still, though, why crows specifically? Why no other bird? Have we just not observed it in other birds? I wonder if they teach, or if this comes to each of them naturally. It boggles the hell out of me.
God help us when one of the little buggers figures out how to sharpen something. We're all dead.
There was this guy on NPR regaling us with a tale of how he'd wronged a certain crow, and for years after that every crow in the murder... even subsequent generations of crows... would squawk at him, and only him, whenever he passed by their roost. I guess he'd assumed that the original crow had spread the word that this dude was baaaaad.
edit: my spelling is atroeshus.
They DEFINITELY do teach each other. There was an experiment where the researcher set up a vending machine that took normal coins and dispensed food. The researcher scattered coins around the vending machine and the crows learned to deposit the coins to get food.
Then, the researcher stopped scattering coins and the crows left. However, occasionally, a crow would come back with a coin and deposit it to get food. In addition to that, crows that weren't part of the original group were coming to the vending machine and depositing coins to get food.
I heard that segment.
That's just awesome.
PSN: SAW776
The big question I want to know is, do they teach their young these things? The comment about the NPR guy getting harassed by generations of crow's makes me think so.
If that's the case, we need to start exterminating them now.
Just think, two hundred years from now, they'll have discovered a system to effectively use pistols and knives, and a lucky crow that slips into a nuclear missile silo will return to his black-feathered compatriots and tell them the secret to wiping humanity from the face of the planet.