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Kaeli Swift, Ph.D.

30 Dec 20, 10 tweets, 5 min read

It’s Wednesday which means it’s time for #CrowOrNo, the weekly crow ID game! Premise is simple: is this a crow (American crow, fish crow, carrion crow etc.) or not (raven, blackbird, grackle, rook, etc.).

So tell me, what is this fluffy friend? Answer and ID tips at 5:30 PST🍀

Crap, Wingspan+Moscow Mules do not make for a timely #CrowOrNoReveal. Answer is forthcoming, thank you for your patience!

Alrighty then, ARE YOU READY???

Today’s #CrowOrNo is....a crow! A fabulously fluffy American crow. #CrowOrNoReveal

This does not seem to be a surprise to most of you, which is good because I’d rate today’s challenge as a 3 on a scale of 1-10. If you got it wrong that’s okay too, and means that more than anyone you’re who I play this game for!!!

So what were the important clues? What made this game a 3 instead of a 1 was that you didn’t get a good look at the throat, so you didn’t have the presence/absence of the hackles (the special throat feathers on ravens) to guide you. You did have a great look at the bill though.

With practice it become easier and easier to detect the absolute CHONK of a raven bill from the proportional lil bill of a crow. This photo show two crows (top) compared to a raven (bottom).

One of the other distinguishing features between (American) crows and (common) ravens is that while crows can get nice and puffy, they don’t have quite the same feather articulation that ravens do.

For example, they don’t get the full beard nor do they get those pseudo horns. The photos below depict some of the range of feather articulation that ravens can display.

But that clearly doesn’t mean crows can’t get puffy. Fluffing up like this is an important way birds trap air under their feathers, and increase their level of insulation.

@Afro_Herper

Thanks for playing everyone! I hope you learned a new thing or two. Join me every Wednesday for more fun crow challenges!!!

And look for other hashtag games like #FindThatLizard with @Afro_Herper, #GuessTheSkull with @Yara_Haridy and #KnockKnockWhosBear with @Brizzlygirl87

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More from @corvidresearch

Kaeli Swift, Ph.D.

@corvidresearch

30 Dec 20

For the new followers today, here’s a, “I just discovered crows are awesome,” starter pack:

1) Crows can live a long time (14-17y), and are generally territorial. That means the crows you interact with outside your home/work may be the same individuals for over a decade.

That offers a real chance to watch/learn/bond with not just a wild animal, but specific individuals whose trust you can earn and then know intimately.

This is facilitated by fact 2) crows can learn and recognize individuals peoples’ faces. They do this in both good (people who feed them) and bad (people who harass/harm them) contexts.

Read 11 tweets

Kaeli Swift, Ph.D.

@corvidresearch

13 Dec 20

Last night I learned that there’s an animal called the cookiecutter shark and...

please.

Let me take you on this journey to knowing this adorable deep sea flesh collector. 📸 Jeff Milisen

With “cookie” in the name & the face of an absolute GOOBER one might be inclined to think that the magic here is that this is just an extra cute shark. At < 2ft long and with those big button eyes, you’re not wrong but you are missing some essential facts of the situation.

See “cookiecutter” comes not from the animal’s silhouette or general vibe, but from its very specific and rather unique hunting strategy. It’s basically a living melon baller. Except instead of melons it’s flesh. Awesome!

Read 19 tweets

Kaeli Swift, Ph.D.

@corvidresearch

3 Nov 20

Hey you! DYK if you live in the following states you can register to vote TODAY?

California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, & Wyoming

Not sure how to register in your state? Check here: vote.org/voter-registra…

If you’re someone that’s never voted before you are a really person today. Your vote matters, not just to me personally (which it does) but even in the grand scheme.

Because it’s not just about the presidential race. It’s also about all those important down ballot races that can be V tight. And those races determine things like your state’s Supreme Court judges.

You know, like the people in TX that just decided NOT to throw out 100k votes.

Read 4 tweets

Kaeli Swift, Ph.D.

@corvidresearch

9 Jul 20

@MyFrogCroaked

Earlier in the week my class was delighted to host @MyFrogCroaked to share his work on frog conservation. To prepare my students, I researched and gave a short lecture on frog biology.

I was not ready for how truly strange frogs are. Here are a handful of mind blowing facts...

1) most frogs don’t consume water orally. Instead they absorb it through their skin. Of those, many have a particular area on their belly/pelvis for just this purpose called the seat patch or the drinking patch.

2) frogs use their freaking eyeballs to help push food towards their esophagus.

Read 9 tweets

Kaeli Swift, Ph.D.

@corvidresearch

23 May 20

https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1264224448166666248

Lol, y’all give hooded crows too much credit for not being absolute hooligans 🤣

https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1264224448166666248

Notice how the hedgehog balls up defensively every time the crow migrates towards its vulnerable head. The crow is the reason it’s having such a hard time crossing, not the reverse.

Here’s a few more instances of hooded crows being delightful jerks

Read 5 tweets

Kaeli Swift, Ph.D.

@corvidresearch

2 May 20

A springtime thread: interesting things you may not know about bird reproduction

1) Only 3% of bird species have a penis. For the majority that don’t, sperm are transfer by the male and female touching their cloacas together. This is called “the cloacal kiss,” which I hate.

https://twitter.com/corvidresearch/status/1198702591971979265?s=21

2) Birds that have penises include waterfowl, ostriches, and emus. In ducks, the penis can be extremely long and weird. In these cases the vaginas are likewise complex and weird. The reasons for this are very dark and discussed in more detail here:

https://twitter.com/corvidresearch/status/1198702591971979265?s=21

https://twitter.com/corvidresearch/status/1198702591971979265

3) Birds only have 1 ovary (usually on the left) and can generally lay 1 egg a day. If the strategy is to have all the eggs hatch on the same day, the female will wait until the whole clutch is laid before she starts incubating.

Read 14 tweets

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