Having purchased special suet feeders that only have access from the bottom and require small birds to hang upside down to feed, I was shocked when I watched a Starling solve the problem very quickly, (He was too big and heavy to hang upside down, so he worked his way up a limb and stood on his "tippy toes" to reach the suet and eat his fill.) Then he began squawking and calling in all of his buddies so they could do the same. Would a bird specialist please let me know if Starlings have ever been tested for intelligence against crows and what the results were? Muchas Gracias!
stanikon
Loc: Deep in the Heart of Texas
I have been told by a bird rescuer and expert that birds in general are stupid, but she considers crows to be the smartest of all birds.
stanikon wrote:
I have been told by a bird rescuer and expert that birds in general are stupid, but she considers crows to be the smartest of all birds.
Actually the Ravens, Crows and Corvid Family in general are smart.
Now we have an intellectual dual set up. Can the human outsmart the starlings and hang the suet feeder where they can't get to it.
You might put another feeder or a seed cake suet combo feeder for the bigger guys and keep this pretty one for the little guys.
dancers
Loc: melbourne.victoria, australia
The Crows in my garden pick up dried bread and place it in the water bowl to soften then eat it.............no other birds here do that, They all just pick and peck at the crust until it powders. Crows/ravens WIN
My crows and Ravens put peanuts in the water dish to soften the shells, then leave the shells in the water😒.
I wonder what kind of bribe it would take to teach them to clean the water dishes?
dancers
Loc: melbourne.victoria, australia
robertjerl wrote:
My crows and Ravens put peanuts in the water dish to soften the shells, then leave the shells in the water😒.
I wonder what kind of bribe it would take to teach them to clean the water dishes?
only time will tell.....start teaching.LOL
robertjerl wrote:
Actually the Ravens, Crows and Corvid Family in general are smart.
Now we have an intellectual dual set up. Can the human outsmart the starlings and hang the suet feeder where they can't get to it.
You might put another feeder or a seed cake suet combo feeder for the bigger guys and keep this pretty one for the little guys.
Dear robertjerl...I appreciate your helpful suggestions. I have two horizontal suet feeders fifty feet away meant for the larger birds like Starlings. But, the Starlings still chose to come to the special suet feeders with the opening on the bottom meant just for the smaller birds. Now, to prove that I am hopefully smarter than the Starlings, I'm going to bend the limb below the woodpeckers suet feeder downward and tie it off, just out of reach of the up-stretching Starlings. I want to watch them throw temper tantrums and return to their feeders. Is that a sin?
Shooter41 wrote:
Dear robertjerl...I appreciate your helpful suggestions. I have two horizontal suet feeders fifty feet away meant for the larger birds like Starlings. But, the Starlings still chose to come to the special suet feeders with the opening on the bottom meant just for the smaller birds. Now, to prove that I am hopefully smarter than the Starlings, I'm going to bend the limb below the woodpeckers suet feeder downward and tie it off, just out of reach of the up-stretching Starlings. I want to watch them throw temper tantrums and return to their feeders. Is that a sin?
Dear robertjerl...I appreciate your helpful sugges... (
show quote)
You may get a surprise
I have seen baby chicks form a pyramid to climb out of an enclosure with 12" walls. Can't you just see it, one or two starlings standing on the branch and one balanced on them to reach the feeder.
Oh, that Raven perched in the tree a bit away, he is running a betting pool on who wins this contest. I hear the odds are running against you in the short run.
sb
Loc: Florida's East Coast
Watching two crows on the road picking at a dead squirrel as I drove towards them, I expected them to fly off. Instead, they each picked up their end of the squirrel and hopped off the road carrying their dinner.
as a teenager I had a 22 and one day used it to shoot at crows in a rectanguler hunk of woods. I chased them up and down this area (east & west) fer a while, then observed one crow flying high and north and to the east, crowing (caw, caw caw) all the way while about 6 flew west (to the south), quietly. ........................ they knew exactly what they were doing!
Also get out of the car with a gun and they would take off, without the gun, you would be ignored..... They ain't stupid... Ed
I've seen a TV programme on animal behaviour showing crows using straws and twigs as tools to extract grubs from rotting wood. The most impressive was a clip from Japan where crows were carrying walnuts to traffic lights at a road junction, as cars came to a stop they placed a walnut in front of a wheel and ate the kernel after the lights changed and the cars had moved off. Maybe using a "sledgehammer to crack a nut" but crows are capable of observing actions and results to achieve their own goals.
Crows can also solve problems requiring a multi step solution. Border collies can figure intricate solutions but only if the solution is one step. Different types of intelligence.
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