Has anyone ever called you a 'bird brain?' Take it as a compliment.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8181233.stm

One of Aesop's fables may have been based on fact, scientists report.

In the tale, written more than 2,000 years ago, a crow uses stones to raise the water level in a pitcher so it can reach the liquid to quench its thirst.

Now a study published in Current Biology reveals that rooks, a relative of crows, do just the same when presented with a similar situation.

The team says the study shows rooks are innovative tool-users, even though they do not use tools in the wild.

Another paper, published in the journal Plos One, shows that New Caledonian crows - which like rooks, are a member of the corvid group, along with ravens, jackdaws, magpies and jays - can use three tools in succession to reach a treat.

--snip--

Well worth a read.

:dunce:

There's a flock of crows that I feed. They are very entertaining.

:crazy:

Crows are entertaining.

and my cat decided to go after a squirrel. The squirrel climbed about halfway up the telephone pole, then turned and started chattering loudly at the cat. Two birds suddenly swooped in and sat on a branch to watch the action. They would look at the squirrel chattering, then look at the cat for the reaction, then kept looking back and forth at them. The cat finally turned around and came back to me but it was so obvious the birds were just there enjoying the show and realized the squirrel was making a mockery of the cat. After she turned around, the birds looked at each other like 'well, that was fun' and flew off. I remember thinking that birds are more than mindless animals and perhaps enjoy a good humiliation of a cat.

running hell bent for leather back and forth through the yard (large fenced in yard). After about 3 times, I stopped the tractor and looked to see what they were running like that for. There were two swallows swooping down over the yard and the dogs were chasing them. The swallows would fly out over the fence then turn and make another run. They were playing with the dogs! I sat and watched them make a couple more runs then they got tired of the game and left.

Studies of multiple generations of Seattle crow "neighborhoods." The organization and communication capacities are wonderful. One of my favorite anecdotes is of the experiment conducted on the UW campus where volunteers disturbed (gently) nests with baby crows in them to see if the very upset parents would remember the faces of the volunteers. So that they could EVER walk on campus again they all wore Dick Cheney masks. I won't spoil the ending for you.