American crows, new studies video

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology in the USA writes about this video:

To Know the Crow: Insights and Stories From a Quarter-Century of Crow Study

Thursday, April 24th, 2014

American Crows have followed us into our suburban and urban neighborhoods, becoming one of our most familiar birds. They have socially intricate lives, with more complex goals than converging at your local dumpster—in fact, socially, they are probably more like us than any primate. Ithaca is home to the longest running study of marked American Crows anywhere: it is now 26 years since Kevin McGowan first began banding them.

McGowan, a scientist who works in the Cornell Lab’s Education program, and his collaborator Anne Clark, of Binghamton University, gave a seminar about their research to a packed house at the Cornell Lab. Watch this archived video of their talk to hear their crow studies and stories, including tales of family values and treachery, stay-at-homes and travelers, dynasties and disease:

(Note: if you want to skip the introductory matter, the main talk begins at about 7:10)

The talk took place on April 21, 2014. It was part of the Cornell Lab’s long-running Monday Night Seminar series, a tradition established decades ago by Lab founder Dr. Arthur Allen.