The Genius of Birds

by Jennifer Ackerman

In the late 1990s, when scientists estimated the total number of wild birds on the planet, they came up with 200 to 400 billion individual birds. That’s roughly 30 to 60 live birds per person.

Carrion crows use passing cars to crush especially tough nuts, such as walnuts, that won’t break by simply falling on pavement. The now-famous video of these crows in a city in Japan shows one stationed above a pedestrian crossing. When the light turns red, it positions its nut on the crossing, then flies back to the perch and waits while the light changes and traffic passes; when the light turns red again, it flutters down to safely collect the cracked nut. If no car smashed the nut, the bird repositions it.