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A Changing World

A Changing World. My Students and I are Studying the Responses of Birds to Such Change. We Found a Counterintuitive Response. But, Considering Extinction and Colonization of Different Groups of Birds Separately, The Pattern Makes More Sense. Expected Changes. Winners. And Losers.

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A Changing World

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  1. A Changing World

  2. My Students and I are Studying the Responses of Birds to Such Change

  3. We Found a Counterintuitive Response

  4. But, Considering Extinction and Colonization of Different Groups of Birds Separately, The Pattern Makes More Sense

  5. Expected Changes

  6. Winners

  7. And Losers Pacific-slope Flycatcher

  8. Approaching a Tipping Point? Projected Forest Decline

  9. The way a crow Shook down on me The dust of snow From a hemlock tree Has given my heart A change of mood And saved some part Of a day I had rued Robert Frost Some Resilient Species are Powerful Cultural Motivators In the Company of Crows and Ravens John Marzluff and Tony Angell

  10. Crows

  11. Ravens

  12. A Rich Family

  13. Creator to some….

  14. …sport to others

  15. Influence of Ravens and Crows through History

  16. Cultural Coevolution • Cultural coevolution: coupled changes in two or more species’ cultures that evolve in response to interactions between the species

  17. Major Episodes of Cultural Coevolution • Hunting and Gathering • War and Aggression • Agricultural Intensification • Urbanization • Hunting and Harvest • Bird Feeding

  18. (Knight 1984, Knight et al. 1987)

  19. An AgriCULTURAL Revolution

  20. Foraging Innovations and Human Behavior (Nihei and Higuchi 2001)

  21. Why Do Crows and Ravens Motivate Us? • Large brains • Proximity • Sociality

  22. Feathered Apes

  23. Lateralization and Brain Complexity • Complex neural connections and lateralization • Left hemisphere for complex integration and learning • New Caledonian Crows are mostly right-billed (tilting to use right eye), using left hemisphere to guide tool making and use • Song learning is also controlled from left hemisphere (Cnotka et al. 2008)

  24. Sociality and Opportunity Learning about friends and foes is necessary in a dangerous, changing environment pace of change may favor individual and social learning

  25. Can American Crows Tell the Difference? Caveman

  26. Can American Crows Tell the Difference? Caveman Cheney

  27. Yes, Crows Know Their Enemies

  28. Memory of Extraordinary Face is Long-term (and still continues)

  29. What About Ordinary Faces? Linda Vivian Michelle Hiroo Joe Scott

  30. The Dangerous Face is Always Recognized, and Especially Likely to Attract a MobBut not Perfectly

  31. Who is Scolding?

  32. Social Learning

  33. Tool Use by New Caledonian Crows • Betty, a female crow was successful at making hooks to retrieve a bucket of meat 9 / 10 times • In wild, most are right-handed, indicating importance of the brain’s left hemisphere in solving non-spatial problems (language in people, tool making in crows) (Weir et al. 2002. Science 297:981)

  34. Courtesy of Alex Weir, Oxford

  35. What About Gifting? Gary Clark, 2006, Marysville, WA

  36. Hypotheses: Crows understand the spoken and written word Someone pulled Gary’s chain Gary pulled my chain The crow was trained / imprinted Gifting is a mistake Gifting is adaptive

  37. Gary’s Chain is Hard to Pull Wife is handicapped No kids Fenced yard

  38. Independent Accounts Suggest My Chain Was Not Pulled and the Crow was not Trained 2005, Nancy from Bristol, Indiana reports on national radio that a crow lands on her lap and leaves a wooden bead

  39. Independent Accounts Suggest My Chain Was Not Pulled and the Crow was not Trained 2005, Gail also calls in to say a crow dropped her a red / white rocket

  40. Independent Accounts Suggest My Chain Was Not Pulled and the Crow was not Trained 2005, Leona from Missouri receives glass shards in her feeder

  41. Independent Accounts Suggest My Chain Was Not Pulled and the Crow was not Trained 2008, Eric from Kuna, Idaho leaves mice for magpies in his barn, and gets shiny objects

  42. Independent Accounts Suggest My Chain Was Not Pulled and the Crow was not Trained 2008, Beth from Seattle feeds crows and watches them drop a key as they go for the dog kibble she is leaving

  43. Crows Gift Without Being Asked In all other cases of gifting, nothing was asked of crows and no writing was exchanged

  44. Gifting Could Be a Mistake A stolen object might be dropped for a better meal Why not return to get it later? Predictions: Items left should be irrelevant to people Some are: bones, feathers, nuts, twigs Anyone should receive a gift Most recipients are habitual feeders Delivering a nestling to a crow statue sounds like mistaken identity, but purposeful

  45. Could Gifting be Adaptive? It could pay to engage people Easily learned; most gifts are relevant rewards for helpful people It has natural predecessor Courtship feeding Bowerbird courts It is seen in another setting Dolphins give fish to birds and humans

  46. Sometimes People Get Too Much Nature Cultural Carrying Capacities Can Be Exceeded • People respond with a host of cultural shifts • Shooting crows in Chatham, ON and Singapore • Changed garbage handling in Tokyo • Chili-flavored or Yellow garbage bags

  47. Our Actions are Reflected in the Diversity of Crows and Ravens

  48. Thanks and Best Wishes

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