Hitchcockian crows gossip about mean humans
Even after a year, a slighted crow may gang up with buddies to 'scold' you
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The common crow knows when you're out to get him — and he's likely to teach his friends and family to watch out for you, a new study finds.

In results that can only be described as Hitchcockian, researchers in Seattle who trapped and banded crows for five years found that those birds don't forget a face. Even after going for a year without seeing the threatening human, the crows would scold the person on sight, cackling, swooping and dive-bombing in mobs of 30 or more.

"Most of the birds that are scolding us are not the ones we captured," said study researcher John Marzluff, a professor of wildlife science at the University of Washington and an occasional victim of crow attacks. "It's likely that they're learning from their parents and their peers that this dangerous person is still out there."


Uh-oh. While out walking this afternoon, I shooed some crows out of a front-yard garden I passed as it looked like they were messing with the flowers. I made a quick outward movement with my arm toward them like I was going to go after them. There were about three or four of them in the vicinity, and they cawed loudly in response to my action and then flew away.

I guess I'm going to have to watch my back for awhile. <shudder>