Crows And Magpies

The forest floor is a flurry of soaring shadows and feathered feet scrambling for a few morsels stuck around the forest, waiting for a precision pecker to come grab and gobble them up. As the day drags on, you notice more and more birds beginning to assemble in the clearing nearby, and suddenly you get a chill up your spine and the hairs on your arm stand on end. Perhaps this is a good time to retreat to the safety of your home and draw the blinds before this strangeness turns scary. The crow genus makes up a third of the species in the Corvidae family. Recent research has found some crow species capable not only of tool use but of tool construction as well. Crows are now considered to be among the world's most intelligent animals. Along with its fellow corvid, the European Magpie, the crow has been found to have a neostriatum approximately the same relative size as is found in chimpanzees and humans. Two species of crow have been listed as endangered by the US fish and wildlife services: The ʻAlalā and the Mariana Crow. The American Crow, despite having its population reduced by 45% since 1999 by the West Nile Virus, is considered a Species of Least Concern. In Europe, "magpie" is often used by English speakers as a synonym for the European Magpie, as there are no other magpies in Europe outside Iberia. That bird was referred to as a "pie" until the late 16th century when the feminine name "mag" was added to the beginning. Magpies are believed to be one of the most intelligent of all animals: the European Magpie is one of the few animal species known to be able to recognize itself in a mirror test.