Don't Mess With The Crow - It'll Never Forget it for 17 Years

SIBY JEYYA
Particularly when it comes to memory and danger recognition, crows are significantly more sophisticated than people may realize. A recent study found that these perceptive birds may retain resentment and memories of people who have threatened them for up to 17 years! What's even more amazing is that crows share this information with other members of their flock, alerting one another to possible threats.
This study clarifies their intricate social behavior and exceptional memory, demonstrating that crows are more than simply caws and black feathers; they also have a highly developed cognitive side that enables them to defend their society in novel ways. professor John Marzluff of the university of Washington began research on crow memory back in 2006 by temporarily trapping seven crows while wearing a frightening mask and then releasing them.
Over the years, he and his group would wear the same mask around campus and occasionally feed the crows after he had marked them. The response increased with time. One day, Marzluff in the mask received a reprimand from 47 of the 53 crows they passed. This demonstrated that crows communicate information about possible dangers to one another in addition to remembering data-faces.
Although the violence steadily decreased, the research peaked in 2013 when the crows' irate caws at Marzluff wearing the "dangerous" mask were at their height. Seventeen years after the trial started, in 2023, no crows were reacting to the mask. Marzluff's group added a twist by donning a "neutral" mask that resembled former Vice President Dick Cheney. In Crow's recollection, people wearing the Cheney mask were "safe" since they just fed them and never caused them any trouble. Additionally, volunteers wore the masks without identifying which was whose, and one participant was confronted by a large crow, demonstrating how effectively these birds can recognize data-faces and warn of possible dangers!
To sum it up, Remember, these birds hold grudges like no other and they won't forget you anytime soon!

 
 
 

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