The smartest birds: city crows remember faces and build nests from hangers

Aesop's famous fable "Crow and Pitcher" tells of a bird that found a pitcher, at the bottom of which there was water. The crow didn’t manage to get drunk, so she began throwing pebbles at the jug so that the water rose higher. They say that the fable is based on actual observations. Whether it was in reality is difficult to say today. However, the raven has been known for high intelligence for a long time.

Ravens have a good memory: they can remember the schedule of a garbage truck to get the tidbits of food. They adapt perfectly to the outside world and may well survive in urban environments. So, for example, a crow can bend the wire to pull food out of hard-to-reach places, or break a walnut, tossing it from a height onto asphalt. Researchers say crows are even capable of remembering a person’s face.

And tidbits are not the only motivation that contributes to the adaptation of ravens in the city. One of the main ones is breeding. And ravens make nests. Usually they consist of thin branches and a wire tightly woven into them, which helps the nest keep its shape. However, there is very little vegetation in megacities, so improvised material is used to build nests. Tokyo residents have found that crows are building nests ... from hangers!

Feathered clothes hangers steal in the nearest apartments. And they cannot be blamed for this: it is very difficult to find natural material for building a nest in a concrete jungle. So the most unusual finds are used.

There are a lot of nests from hangers in Tokyo, and they look like works of art. By the way, they are not only in the Japanese capital, in another Japanese city of Fukuoka, such nests sometimes appear even on power lines. And on the island of Kyushu there are special "crow patrols" that make sure that such bird structures are not on the power grid facilities. Otherwise, they can cause a short circuit and turn off the entire area.