A Crow Learned to Call Dogs, Then Spent Two Weeks Herding Them
The bird, apparently once a pet, led neighborhood dogs to a campus and held them in a tree with calls it had picked up from people.
TEDx Talks · Crows, smarter than you think | John Marzluff | TEDxRainierKevin Smith, whose dog Vampire lived in the backyard in Missoula, Montana, woke one morning to frantic barking. Vampire was going wild, and underneath the barking Smith could hear someone calling to the animal, "Here, boy. Come on, boy. Let's go."
Smith went outside to confront his dog and whoever was teasing it. He walked to the kennel, looked behind it, and the voice popped up again. It was not a neighbor. It was a crow, saying, "Here, boy. Come on, boy. Let's go. Here, boy. Let's go."
John Marzluff, a University of Washington professor who studies crows and tells the story, says the bird had apparently learned the call from a keeper. Crows and ravens are large songbirds that can learn human speech.
For the next two weeks around Missoula, the crow used the call for its own ends. It rounded up dogs from the neighborhood and led them to the university campus. There it would perch in a tree, call down to the confused pack gathered below, and hold them at bay.
Then classes would let out and students would cross the grounds. The crow launched into flight with the dogs pursuing it across campus, perhaps shaking loose something to eat, or perhaps just for the fun of the chase.
Questions people ask
Can crows really learn to talk?
Yes. Crows and ravens can imitate human speech the way parrots do, though they do it with a different voice box called a syrinx. Captive birds are the best talkers because they hear the same phrases repeated by their keepers.
Why would a crow want to round up dogs?
It may have been looking for food, play, or both. Dogs chasing a bird can scatter lunches and snacks, and crows are quick to connect a commotion with something to eat. Crows also play for no obvious reward, so herding barking dogs may simply have been fun.