Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Kaeli Swift, Ph.D. Profile picture
@corvidresearch
Aug 22, 2019 • 15 tweets • 4 min read • Read on X
My goodness, white-necked ravens are really having their time in the spotlight this week! So let’s dive in: could this raven really be recycling?
No. It’s not reasonable to assume any non-human animal possess a concept of garbage, recycling and the desperate need for humans to get their shit together. So what are the alternative explanations?
There has been one case where you could have convinced me it was an accident. I wrote about that one on my blog. corvidresearch.blog/2015/06/19/mee…
Folks saw the hooded crow snacking from a paper plate and then fly over and drop it in the bin. Given that crows often perch to eat and then drop the inedibles on the ground, it’s conceivable that’s what happened here only with the awesome coincidence that it was perched on a bin
Our video in question though was no accident. Given the difficulty & number of times the bird had to try to get it right, it was doing this intentionally. You can also see that it flies off IMMEDIATELY after it correctly completes the action. It’s flying to a handler. No question
The idea that corvids can be trained to pick up and dispose of garbage is no surprise. You might have a dog, or have seen dogs trained to put their toys away, for example. This is hardly different from training that.
But it’s also been done before. You may remember the captive rooks that were trained to pick up trash and were then able to successfully do so at the French theme park Puy du Fou. smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/fre…
Finally, the fact that this is a white necked-ravens means I’d be willing to put money on this particular raven being Mischief, yes the same bird as the now infamous bird/bunny video! time.com/5657404/bird-o…
Mischief is trained by handler Paige Davis at the World Bird Sanctuary. Paige runs a wildly popular IG and YouTube account where many of these videos originate.
I couldn’t find this specific video, but I did find this.
So from my perspective this case of the recycling corvid is closed. But I’d welcome being proved wrong. How interesting that would be!
UPDATE: the World Bird Sanctuary has confirmed it is Mischief!
UPDATE ON THE UPDATE. Apparently the reporter I spoke with this morning gave me bad intel. It seems this bird might not be Mischief but in fact a WNRA named Kendi at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I’m looking into it now.
Ok. I haven’t gotten the 100% confirmation BUT I did speak to the same woman at WBS as the reporter, and she said that when she told the reporter it was Mischief it’s because she thought he was referring to this video which WBS happened to post to fb today
So given the aesthetic of the background and the fact she was unfamiliar with this video I think we can safely say it’s Kendi at Animal Kingdom. Which means there’s not one but two recycling white-necked ravens! How cool!!!!

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Kaeli Swift, Ph.D.

Kaeli Swift, Ph.D. Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @corvidresearch

Kaeli Swift, Ph.D. Profile picture
Aug 7, 2022
UV detection is really important for many animals
(ex: reindeer vision extends into the UV spectrum, allowing for higher contrast & easier detection of their main food (lichen) & predators (wolves) against a snowy backdrop)

But do crows use it much? A thread for the nerdy...
Most eyes work in more or less the same way...light enters, gets bent by the cornea, gets focused on the retina, rods and cones detect amount of light and color, information gets transmitted to brain. But differences in each of those steps can render v different visual systems.
When it comes to the difference in the way you vs. or a dog or a lizard sees the world, we can mainly focus on differences in number of types of rods and cones.
Read 10 tweets
Kaeli Swift, Ph.D. Profile picture
Jun 9, 2022
TIL that eminent raven researcher, Berned Heinrich, reported on a case of two captive male ravens forming a pair bond. Although they were held in a mixed flock that included females, the pair maintained their bond for 2 years and even built a nest together each breeding season
For folks wondering if anyone has attempted to quantify the prevalence of homosexuality in corvids the answer is no, and we probably never will.
While it’s easy to spot in sexually dimorphic species (hey look those rams with the big horns are having sex) for monomorphic (males and females look the same) species it’s really hard to detect in the wild.
Read 5 tweets
Kaeli Swift, Ph.D. Profile picture
Jun 8, 2022
#PullAllTheTails
For those not yet in the know, this crow is attempting something called kleptoparasitism, a foraging strategy where instead of getting your own food, you steal someone else’s!
There are two types: obligate, meaning you steal all your food, and facultative which means you do it opportunistically. Most animals are facultative. Sometimes it’s done on other species sometimes within your own.
Read 5 tweets
Kaeli Swift, Ph.D. Profile picture
Jun 4, 2022
Breeding season is often a hard time for the tender hearted among us. The joy of watching an animal construct a nest just to see their efforts cut short by predation is painful. Likewise, finding a dead chick is tough, and prompts many to ask how they could have protected them.
I appreciate the people that bring me these questions so much. That care so deeply they would put in the effort to seek out these answers from a scientist and spend their time doing what I suggested. These are good people.
But whether you're asking how to protect birds from crows, or crows from other animals, my answer is always the same. As hard as it is to watch animals get eaten, it’s vital to remember that predation is what keeps wildlife wild. It’s what keeps ecosystems complex & beautiful.
Read 10 tweets
Kaeli Swift, Ph.D. Profile picture
Mar 25, 2022
There's no better way to show how little you understand about biology than to ask someone to define biological sex & scoff when they can't give you a straightforward lil answer.

Nature does not give a shit about keeping it simple for the peace of mind of small-minded people.
Well what about chromosomes???

Yeah what about them? Most of the time XX means you have a uterus, vagina, etc., but sometimes it fucking doesn't and you have a penis. Or maybe you're XY but instead of a penis you have a vagina but still no uterus.
Ok well what about genitals???

Again, what about them? Bodies are made all sorts of ways with lots of mold breaking and they're no different. In fact 2% of babies have what's called "ambiguous genitals" and it's just not clear what's going to happen as the person ages.
Read 7 tweets
Kaeli Swift, Ph.D. Profile picture
Dec 10, 2021
Stories like this are so complicated for me and frankly I don’t have a firm judgement about them.

So first, let’s be clear that this only happens when a young bird is taken into human custody at such an age that it imprints. The recreational crow feeder isn’t risking this.
So on the one hand, by cultivating this relationship you’ve irrevocably altered this birds natural behavior…it’s relationship to humans and to other crows. It’s destined to a certain amount of confusion.
Then there’s the reality that when the neighbor’s attempt to catch and remove the obnoxious crow (because yes free flying human-imprinted crows always get obnoxious to somebody) fails…they try other methods. Or someone does.
Read 10 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

Send Email!

:(