European crows
Feb 5th, 2005, 09:42 AM
#41
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I see dozens of crows and/or ravens and magpies every day around my area in the Loire Valley. A week or two ago, I saw a big beautiful bird with colorful markings on its wings, head and tail. I didn't know what it was, but I found it in my Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Britain and Europe. It turned out to be a jay, which in Europe is a member of the corvidae family. It was big like a crow and very different from the jays I used to see in the U.S.
Feb 5th, 2005, 11:33 AM
#42
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It wouldn't be the only bird that has a similar name, but is actually entirely different. Our robins, for example, despite having a red breast, are actually much smaller, about the size of a sparrow - absolute thugs, too, in their way.
Feb 6th, 2005, 03:48 AM
#43
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FYI: That article I posted yesterday about birds' intelligence (see link in yesterday's post) is only accessible through tomorrow, Feb. 7, I think. I was published in the Feb. 1 edition, and I think it is available online without a fee for only seven days. So if you're the least bit interested in this type of thing, now's the time to catch it.
Feb 6th, 2005, 04:05 AM
#44
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Someone gave me this link which supposedly will be accessible indefinitely: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/01/sc...er=rssuserland
Feb 6th, 2005, 06:26 AM
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cmt, I realize this isn't quite on the subject of crows, but we love to see magpies when we travel in France. (Crows are plentiful where I live in Nova Scotia, but there are apparently few magpies east of Manitoba.)
My wife always counts them, quoting that ancient rhyme:
<i>One for sorrow, two for mirth,
Three for a wedding, four for a birth,
Five for silver, six for gold,
Seven for a secret never to be told ...</i>
My mother-in-law, who is from England, insists that you must say "Bonjour, Bill" when you see a magpie. I gather there are dire consequences if you don't!
Anselm
My wife always counts them, quoting that ancient rhyme:
<i>One for sorrow, two for mirth,
Three for a wedding, four for a birth,
Five for silver, six for gold,
Seven for a secret never to be told ...</i>
My mother-in-law, who is from England, insists that you must say "Bonjour, Bill" when you see a magpie. I gather there are dire consequences if you don't!
Anselm
Feb 6th, 2005, 06:59 AM
#46
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The thread isn't really limited to just crows, and anyway I think magpies are closely related to crows. I see them much more often in Europe (Italy and France) that where I live in the US. The article I cited above is about various kinds of intelligent birds. African gray parrots are particularly impressive, since they are able to form sentences with learned words in order to express their thoughts and reactions and wants.
