A Changing World

My Students and I are Studying the Responses of Birds to Such Change

Mixed urban andother non-forest

Urban

Forest

Water

1 kmLandscape

Study Sites2

Songbird MappingAreas (to scale)

Kilometers

Seattle

N

2 0 2 4 6

We Found a Counterintuitive Response

• But, Considering Extinction and Colonization of Different Groups of Birds Separately, The Pattern Makes More Sense

Expected Changes

Winners

And Losers

Pacific-slope Flycatcher

Approaching a Tipping Point?

Projected Forest Decline

The way a crowShook down on meThe dust of snowFrom a hemlock treeHas given my heartA change of moodAnd saved some partOf a day I had rued

Robert Frost

In the Company of Crows and Ravens

John Marzluff and Tony Angell

Some Resilient Species are Powerful Cultural Motivators

Crows

Ravens

coraroost5.mp3

A Rich Family

Creator to some….

…sport to others

Influence of Ravens and Crows through History

Cultural Coevolution

• Cultural coevolution: coupled changes in two or more species’ cultures that evolve in response to interactions between the species

Major Episodes of Cultural Coevolution

• Hunting and Gathering

• War and Aggression• Agricultural

Intensification• Urbanization• Hunting and Harvest• Bird Feeding

(Knight 1984, Knight et al. 1987)

An AgriCULTURAL Revolution

(Nihei and Higuchi 2001)

Foraging Innovations and Human Behavior

Why Do Crows and Ravens Motivate Us?

• Large brains

• Proximity

• Sociality

Feathered Apes

Lateralization and Brain Complexity

• Complex neural connections and lateralization – Left hemisphere for complex

integration and learning• New Caledonian Crows are

mostly right-billed (tilting to use right eye), using left hemisphere to guide tool making and use

• Song learning is also controlled from left hemisphere

(Cnotka et al. 2008)

Learning about friends and foes is necessary in a dangerous, changing environment

pace of change may favor individual and social learning

Sociality and Opportunity

Can American Crows Tell the Difference?

Caveman

Can American Crows Tell the Difference?

Caveman Cheney

Yes, Crows Know Their Enemies

Memory of Extraordinary Face is Long-term (and still continues)

What About Ordinary Faces?

Linda Vivian Michelle

Hiroo Joe Scott

The Dangerous Face is Always

Recognized, and Especially Likely to Attract a Mob

But not Perfectly

Who is Scolding?

Social Learning

Tool Use by New Caledonian Crows

• Betty, a female crow was successful at making hooks to retrieve a bucket of meat 9 / 10 times

• In wild, most are right-handed, indicating importance of the brain’s left hemisphere in solving non-spatial problems (language in people, tool making in crows)

(Weir et al. 2002. Science 297:981)

Courtesy of Alex Weir, Oxford

What About Gifting?

• Gary Clark, 2006, Marysville, WA

Hypotheses:

1. Crows understand the spoken and written word

2. Someone pulled Gary’s chain

3. Gary pulled my chain4. The crow was trained /

imprinted5. Gifting is a mistake6. Gifting is adaptive

Gary’s Chain is Hard to Pull

• Wife is handicapped

• No kids

• Fenced yard

Independent Accounts Suggest

My Chain Was Not Pulled and

the Crow was not Trained

• 2005, Nancy from Bristol, Indiana reports on national radio that a crow lands on her lap and leaves a wooden bead

Independent Accounts Suggest

My Chain Was Not Pulled and

the Crow was not Trained

• 2005, Gail also calls in to say a crow dropped her a red / white rocket

Independent Accounts

Suggest My Chain Was Not Pulled and the Crow was not

Trained

• 2005, Leona from Missouri receives glass shards in her feeder

Independent Accounts

Suggest My Chain Was Not Pulled and the Crow was not

Trained

• 2008, Eric from Kuna, Idaho leaves mice for magpies in his barn, and gets shiny objects

Independent Accounts

Suggest My Chain Was Not Pulled and the Crow was not

Trained

• 2008, Beth from Seattle feeds crows and watches them drop a key as they go for the dog kibble she is leaving

Crows Gift Without Being Asked

• In all other cases of gifting, nothing was asked of crows and no writing was exchanged

Gifting Could Be a Mistake

• A stolen object might be dropped for a better meal– Why not return to get it later?

• Predictions:– Items left should be irrelevant to people

• Some are: bones, feathers, nuts, twigs

– Anyone should receive a gift• Most recipients are habitual feeders• Delivering a nestling to a crow statue sounds like

mistaken identity, but purposeful

Could Gifting be Adaptive?

• It could pay to engage people– Easily learned; most gifts are

relevant rewards for helpful people

• It has natural predecessor– Courtship feeding– Bowerbird courts

• It is seen in another setting– Dolphins give fish to birds and

humans

Sometimes People Get Too Much Nature Cultural Carrying Capacities Can Be Exceeded

People respond with a host of cultural shifts

•Shooting crows in Chatham, ON and Singapore•Changed garbage handling in Tokyo•Chili-flavored or Yellow garbage bags

Our Actions are Reflected

in the Diversity of Crows and

Ravens

Thanks and Best Wishes