Added: 3 years ago
From: TEDtalksDirector
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  • A crow goes sledding: watch?v=YP9RnDp_tms

  • this guys a badass 

  • i think the crow are taking over..

  •  nytimes.com/2009/04/12/magazin­e/12letters-t-CORRECTIONS-1.ht­ml

  • This guy is really really intelligent. Good going!

  • Thumbs up if you hear a crow during this video

  • @JOLLYJOEY101 No, but your comment sent me to pogobat. Great channel, thanks!

  • One day, I was sitting on a park bench by Vancouver's Stanley Park Seawall. Nearby, a couple of crows were harvesting clams and then dropping them on stones from a great height. They didn't always break. Spotting me, one of the crows dropped a clam at my feet and backed away, looking at me with great intent. I understood immediately: the bird wanted me to smash the clam for him. And so I did. And so the crow ate. I have never again underestimated these talented creatures.

  • Check out PBS documentary A Murder of Crows for a more in depth look at the intelligence of crows. Astounding :D

  • 1 for sorrow

    2 for joy

    3 for girls

    4 for boys

    5 for silver

    6 for gold

    7 for a story never to be told.

  • Crows are intelligent creatures. I feed them in my backyard each morning. A family of 3 come each day. They are cooperative too and work to support each other. Very intersting.

  • Crows are creepy.

  • this was funny and educating. And scary.

  • i would train one to get me office supplies. Think about it, you could take it into school by "letting it in on accident". This guy is much faster than the teachers, and "experimentally" seeing if it would get you your pencil would be so fun.

  • I want a pet crow now...

  • ... :0.  Omg

  • link to buy one of these vending machines

  • I think people forget that we are animals too....we're not the only species on this planet that is intelligent. It's funny how people flip shit when they see how smart animals are.

  • @GreatestSoloEver thats cuz crows, like many other birds, will actually choose NOT to fly off the road when a car is coming at them at 60 mph.

  • The way he describes this, crows seem like they're going to be implemented at aperture science.

  • @cksugdad They are, they steal potatoes

  • Thanks dan

  • DAN :D

  • thumbs up if you're here from pogobat!

  • wow! thanks Dan Brown!

  • Dan!! :D

  • Dan Brown was here. Haha JK

  • Dan Brown was here haha JK

  • Dan Sent me :)

  • @HegarzHD dude dont be a noob read aotehr ppls comments from now on no one cares if he sent u

  • @spyguy1994 Didn't ask you sorry kid.

  • Please no Dan Brown was here comments...they're annoying. *refreshes page to check after watching video*

  • Damn...

  • Why is the audience laughing so hard? Are they on drugs or something?

  • @MindCBase lol when i heard about this i was like hahaha no freeking way, maybe they are to :P

  • I love this! I'll probably start reading more on crows in my spare time.

    Also, would somebody be so kind and do a transcription (which could be used for subtitles, perhaps?). I would do it myslef, but I'm not a native speaker and I'm afraid I would mess it up. Thanks

  • i wanted to see the vending machine in action...

  • They could possibly use this to help maintain cities by collecting trash and litter off the streets.

  • So. Cool. Props to this man, his colleagues, and their research. More humans need to think like this.

  • "A Murder of Crows" If you like this, you'll probably also like that documentary.

  • I grew up with birds. I know.

  • PPL always look @ me funny when I say I love these beautiful birds. There's one I have a staring contest with regularly @ the apts I live in...

  • how rich is he?

  • crows will rule the world one day

  • @mnjesyed I, for one, welcome our new crow overlords. ^_^

  • Brilliant talk. I like to see this type of thinking.

  • Why jusy dont stop shitting around ourself and let birds be? На? What? Idea is too hard to acomplish? Bitch!

  • I hate how in the end we still enslave them. But lets see, that how long these smart ass creatures will realize that we want them work for us and outsmart us.

  • I want to hear the story of crow infidelity that you mentioned

  • Joshua Klein, You are my hero! What a brilliant study for such wonderful animals. I am sure this can harness a lot of potential for a lot of things. Very interesting.

    I love crow birds

  • الغربان مخلوقات ذكية، ذكية جداً

  • 20 years ago in college, I threw down a few potato chips for the crows on campus. A few days later, remembering me, a larger group of crows flocked around me tilting their heads as if to ask me for more, so I grabbed another bag from the vending machine. The next day they were lined up on the fence waiting for me as I got out of my car.

    This began a year long relationship wherein I'd stop on the way to campus each day to pick them up a treat, and they'd show me where to find a parking spot.

  • Just wait until they figure out that a whole lot of peanuts can be bought with some of them coins! :D

  • @lasneh

    yeah, that way they'll help our economy ánd the peanut business too lol

  • Crows and their buddies the Jackdaws hang around where I live all the time. In the summer they collect on the roofs just before roosting chattering away. They are a bit noisy in the summer evenings but they are part of the community here. :)

  • This is brilliant and should definitely be explored. And this is why more focus needs to be placed on innovative technologies in public schools instead of the ridiculous smidgen of general knowledge that passes for science class today.

    And the naysayers can go ahead and do what they've always done: sit there, naysay and let the world's problems be solved by those who aren't afraid to explore new ideas.

    naysayers can just sit there and do what they've alway

  • OMG!!!!!

  • I'm amazed how these academic types are finally discovering what many of us simpletons from the farm knew years ago.  I've had several pet crow and they are very intelligent.

  • @777strongcoffee so you're saying you're stupid compared to me?

  • I can literally hear a crow cawing as i write this.

  • So, other than what this guy is telling us and showing us in pictures.......where is the damn evidence that crows actually used this device and did the things he said? You all just believe it because he said it? Where is the proof? I don't see a video of it, but rather I see illustrations.....that says nothing.

  • Brilliant!

  • when he said teach crows to pick up garbage.. my mind was blown

  • You are brilliant Josh! Love the work you do...

  • Real talk, i swear im not making this up. I saw a chicken cross the street.

  • If we train the crows to pick up lost change how long before the crows start mugging people?

  • I've always loved Crows - magnificent birds.

  • W/our increasing edification,& advancing tech.. Easy 2 c why we're 'tops',& dangerous in all sorts of ways 4 lowr beings. Its INCREDIBLE that these birds figurd out how 2 not only navigate thru our world safely, but 2 make it actually work 4 them. In ordr 4 them 2 pull that off so successfully, they have 2 observe & b able 2 undrstand people. Humans r very diverse in disposition/action, dangerous,& cunning.. Still, THEY clearly got US figured out better than we do them. - Thats 1 bright bird!

  • woah

  • Great initiative this guy. and he is right, animals have souls too, we have been making them suffer for too long for our own selfishness.

  • God is great

  • Both science and religion have as their goal attainment of objective truth, not subjective opinion.

    Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, yes, but higher than subjective opinion is objective truth and fact.

    There is absolutely no evidence anywhere that atheist dogma is truth, but there is ample scientific evidence in favor of Theism, and that is why the vast majority of human beings accept Theism as scientific fact and reject atheist dogma as irrational hogwash.

    atheist total fail

  • @Purushadasa Can you give me one example of a piece of scientific evidence in favour of Theism, please?

  • @Purushadasa In the end theism is a matter of FAITH, which is completely disconnected from scientific debate. That's the whole point! You have to believe in God regardless of what your senses perceive, regardless of empiricism. This is a fundamental pillar of Christianism, Buddhism and many other religions, so please don't come here talking about atheism/theism as it all comes down to faith and not science.

  • @Purushadasa said to me: " Hitler was atheist, you fucking dunce, and everyone knows it"

    Read 'Mein Kampf'. In his book, Hitler describes his Catholic beliefs!

    German infantry belt buckle designed by Hitler and embossed with the christian cross, superimposed by the Nazi Swastika and carrying the logo 'God on our side'

    The evidence is there!

    You're the DUNCE.

  • Where is the clip showing the crows using the vending machine?

  • The problem with this guy is that he's too anthropocentric. The hidden premise he assumes you'll blindly accept is that humans have dominion over all animals and that the civilzed lifestyles are the only option. To say that "they have become extremely well adapted to living with us" ignores the fact that many humans have and still do live in ways that are extremely well adapted to living in a world ran by nature.

  • Comment removed

  • There is absolutely no evidence anywhere in favor of evolution THEORY. That is why it is not a law or a fact -- it is JUST a THEORY.

    atheist total fail

  • @Purushadasa - Where is the evidence that says otherwise? Just because it was written down over a thousand years ago means it must be true? 400 years ago the smartest brains in the world said the world was flat, should I still believe that? Where is the evidence that Jesus, Mohammed, or any other God exists? EVERYTHING is theory. God may or may not exist, there is nothing wrong in believing, but there is also nothing wrong in not believing. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

  • @Purushadasa Tell that to researchers who have tried to develop an AIDS vaccine with the HIV virus adapting quickly to new drugs. Pfff, no evidence? The friggin live with the challenge of viruses evolving every day!

  • When the crow bends the wire into a hook, she disproves evolution THEORY.

    If, as the THEORY speculates, all behaviors are based on the genes received from previous generations, then the behavior this crow displayed would be absolutley impossible. It could not possibly occur to her to do such a thing.

    Rather, she used her God-given consciousness, intelligence, and free will to figure it out.

    atheist total fail

  • @Purushadasa YEAH! and crows are dirty too, so that disproves the germ theory of disease!!!!

    Go back to your cave you troglodyte

  • @skankburger Uncontrolled anger management issues and impotent, failed attempts at ridicule are no substitutes for intelligence, evidence, or arguments.

    atheist total fail

  • @Purushadasa Evolution does not state that every behaviour is entirely dependent on genetics. Never has it stated that, ever. Evolution does predict that organisms will change to better live in their environment, and a change can include a greater capacity to learn. This is what has most likely happened with crows.

    Also- you do not need to be an atheist to believe in evolution nor does disproving evolution have anything to do with proving the existence of god.

  • Yes it does.

  • @Purushadasa Evolution does not predict adaptations - only that there will be adaptations.

    People who would argue that behaviour is genetic or learned would be ecologists and geneticists.

    Anyways! I think the point which is important is that a belief in evolution does not threaten your personal beliefs, nor does your belief in god threaten my beliefs.

    Be well!

  • @Purushadasa LOL, are you serious? please dont try and understand a theory without doing any homework. How do you suppose humans developed their problem solving skills? Did it ever cross your mind that having an adaptable behavioral pattern is an evolutionary advantage? What a sick, twisted and ignorant view you have of evolution.

  • How can they ever be found breeding more than 5 kilometers away from human beings? In such a case, who would be finding them?

    There is no evidence that crows don't breed more than 5 kilometers away from human beings.

  • 10 crows pressed the dislike button....they dont want us to know!

  • those 10 dislikes must have been by accident

  • @profjaykay Might be a crow conspiracy....

  • please tell me you are going to start training crow to do something like collect litter for peanuts or make wind turbines for cashews. please, please, please!

  • yea!

  • I love the crows here in albany!

  • great video

  • @peacechami That comment needs to be highlighted

  • Hmm a vending machine that charges crows garbage for food sounds like a pretty interesting idea. Although we have to make the machine know the difference between garbage and rocks.

  • I was sitting in my truck waiting for my brother and there was a hot dog bun in the gutter, and a group of crows swooped down , but the first one to the bun didn't just take off and horde the bun, it tore off little pieces of the bun and threw a piece to each crow in the group making sure every crow got their grub on. I've really liked crows ever since.

  • is there any way we can harness Joshua Klein's intelligence to benefit us? Maybe we can use him to stock vending machines.

  • who the fuck dislikes this?! wtfs wrong with some people?!?!?!

  • I used to go feed birds at the park. When the lake is almost completly frozen, the geese won't leave the open water, since they can dive and feed. The gulls were active so I fed them. They would fly by and catch pieces of bread I threw in the air. After a very short while, they had me timed, and would take off, circle, and be in position right when I threw.

  • I for one, when the time comes, will welcome our crow overlords. All hail the crows!

  • uh oh we are in big trouble..

  • I want a crow :(

  • search and rescue? like dropping earthquake victims into a large vending machine?

  • To the crows: I heard there are peanuts in Fort Knox.

  • @4K4K1K0

    There's not much more than peanuts in Fort Knox.

  • This is really interesting. I'd love to see any further research on harnessing crows as additional labour, as long as it is sustainable for the crow.. Although, we've already messed with their natural habitat bearing in mind, they were here first. I think crows are very intelligent. Crows bring children's discarded dried out lunches to my Mum's bird bath to soak them so they can eat them. Thanks for sharing this.

  • Crows killed my mother and raped my father.

  • i dont think crows should be used to interact with hardcore christians..

  • @woahmax ...what does religion have to do with this?

  • @AquaRing in most western religions, crows are a symbol of death

  • @woahmax I'm pretty sure I wasn't talking about symbolism.

  • We shouldn't manipulate & mess with animals minds, to train them, to make them unsustainable of human control, cause that effect their evolutionary biological agenda, they are already adapting to the natural environment and to humans destructible behavior, but instead we need to change our own behavior habits towards the environment.

  • the part about crows learning reminds me of the 100th monkey effect

  • This was so amazing! I still can't believe no one has thought of this until now. This is truly one of the smartest ideas I have ever heard. It's an extremely significant observation and a simple, peaceful, and wise solution to some big problems in the world. The concept of SPECIES helping each other out so we can all survive is mind blowing as well as moving!

  • Hm... what if you train crows to steal? Credit cards, money, jewelry and so on. : D BRB YouTube -> Getting rich.

  • and next I'm going to train a swallow to pick up coconuts.

  • @Sairin13

    Not if it's a european swallow, you won't.

  • @Winamplama But African Swallows are non-migratory, so it couldn't bring a coconut back anyway.

  • @Sairin13 Wouldn't you need two swallows? Maybe with a string tied together?

  • it's all a part of their master plan!

  • Next thing you know they will be taking all our jobs and putting honest humans out of work!

  • so ...why not instead of coins empty cans? that way you can help recycling!

  • God I love crows. I always have, and always known their smart, but damn crows. Good on ya mates!

  • How about counting crows... that counts.

  • Quoth the Raven...

  • I want a pet crow now.

  • my roomate and i just got done watching this and he says damn crows are smarter than the people i work with they can actually figure something out.

  • honestly among the best TED talks i've seen

  • That was fascinating. :) That was really good.

  • Don't leave it in nature as a lovely smart little character (salish peoples lore have the crow as a mishief maker - long known how smart they are!) but let's HARness the crow to SERVE us!!!!!!!!!! (champ champ, lust lust).

  • i fuckin love nature

  • Crows hate you.

  • crows

  • This is no big deal, anyone who knows mythology understands that crows arent really crows..

  • @walkertongdee

    I gave you a thumbs up because I chuckled.

  • Were there roosters at this cocktail party, or just thier tails and if so where were the roosters?

  • That vending machine has a very naughty potential. Just start charging them $100 for a peanut.

  • thats incredible :o

  • We in New Zealand dont have crows but we do have magpie's......same thing?

  • Pretty close, yeah.

  • this man is my hero.

    crows are one of my favorite animals!

  • this is why whenever I hear a crow kawing down at me from a tree i don't hesistate to yell profanities back up at it

  • I throw bread crusts to the neighborhood crows. I know they recognize me. I do not presume to think they appreciate what I have done, though I hope it will win me some mercy when they inevitably rise up to take their rightful place as lords of this world. :D

  • @DonLangosta

    That is beyond funny. :)

  • i like the guy  and his affection to crows)

  • More evidence to prove than animals are not stupid.

    Did you know that they can understand human tones? There was a pigon in the bank and everyone was yelling at it and I spoke to it calmly and though it was still terrified, it definatly calmed down a bit and let my carry it outside.

    Okay, I think I may have decided to write a Watership Down style story about crows.

  • Forget collecting trash. We can try to train those dumb bankers to do that.

    Put the crows on Wall Street

  • wow crows are really smart!

  • I'm loving this guy's ideas. Wow. Well done. I have a new respect for Corvids :)

  • Since I was a kid in the south I have had a fascination with crows. I knew someone that rescued nest with babies and handfed them till they were grown. I do know that they made the best guard "dogs"/early warning systems I've ever seen. When you pulled up in their driveway these three crows would stand beside your door and basically scare you into staying in your car until their humans told them it was cool.

  • maybe if garbage containers in the city were set up to dispense a peanut everytime a piece of garbage was put it, the crows would fly around, picking up garbage n cleaning our streets, n they get a good meal out of it. every1 wins!!

  • I think there would be a war between bums and crows to put garbage in the cans then.

  • @RandomishhOne Or we should just pick up our own trash instead of relying on everyone else doing it for us.

  • @RandomishhOne It'll also help feed the homeless who want a quick peanut too.

  • @RandomishhOne Crows would start generating their own garbage to get the peanuts.

  • @jtbell04 I imagine them starting their own little crow lumber yards and crow paper mills to sustain their efforts of bringing wads of paper to the trash can for peanuts.

  • @RandomishhOne Except that all the bins would be surrounded by crows and people would be forced to start littering to avoid them.

  • @RandomishhOne

    THats actually brilliant.

  • @RandomishhOne:

    Only problem with this: how (or if at all) they'd define "garbage".

    Why would they know what Garbage is? That silly Human stuff.

    Wouldn't they rather throw -everything- in there, that might work.

    Who wouldn't? If I would get Peanuts, I'd pick up some

    gravel & throw it in there one by one to fill me a pack of Peanuts. xD

    This could end up with overfilled garbage containers standing in the middle of a giant wasteland, 'cause they'd throw in everything they find lying around it.

  • Those pitch black crows are so beautiful

  • My father's neighbours keep poultry, and they went on holiday. They asked him to lock the birds up 8pm. My father, never a patient man, went around at 7:20, and they wouldn't have it. He had to go back at 8, and they were waiting outside the coop for him.

  • I have many bird friends that drop past my house throughout the day, their job is to remind me to take a break from writing. Very smart, very friendly, they will tap on the window to let me know they are there or if the door is open fly right in and sit on my shoulder. I hand feed all of them, 14 in total of 7 different species from cockatoo's to crows. It's all well and good till they bring their friends. ;)

  • Very interesting.

    I'm going to have to favorite this one

  • Wow! I will stop shooing them away.

  • I will trrain an arrmy of crrows with laserrbeams and rrule the worrrrld,

    WHA, HA, HA, HA.

    The pest-partner reversall is beautifull "out of the box" thinking. Small thougt, big progress.

  • with frickin laser beams attached to their heads.

  • Cuz' every creature deserves a warm meal.

  • cursingyorick: I agree! I knew crows (and corvids in general) were crafty and intelligent, but Joshua Klein's vending machine is amazing--and he raises an excellent point.

    If we CAN teach wild crows, maybe we can teach them not to cause us trouble (crows destroy telecom lines for nesting material, ruin crops, and eat songbird eggs/nestlings).

    Since they're multiplying exponentially, I think laws should be changed to allow them to be kept as pets, too. It'd be better than culling them.

  • I'm never gonna look at a crow in the same way again!