The Hide (chat thread)

I have a theory that birds have a secret sense. I hear an interesting song, get out phone, sign in, find ap, all this time bird is singing. Finger hovers over the mic button. Silence. This has happened far too many times to be a coincidence. I have heard them stop mid song just as I hit the mic button. Should I be in Conspiracy Theories with this?

Well you can certainly hear a robin shouting 'there's a cat! there's a cat! there's a cat!', no doubt what it is saying! Mind you, I have all on to recognise a blackbird song, much less identify an accent 😁. Except when they are singing after dark in the summer, then the song is quite distinctive.

I'm sure you're all familiar with the academic study of Crow calls in the Boston area?

Researchers for the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority found over 200 dead crows near greater Boston recently, and there was concern that they may have died from Avian Flu. A Bird Pathologist examined the remains of all the crows, and, to everyone's relief, confirmed the problem was definitely NOT Avian Flu. The cause of death appeared to be vehicular impacts.

However, during the detailed analysis it was noted that varying colors of paints appeared on the bird's beaks and claws. By analyzing these paint residues it was determined that 98% of the crows had been killed by impact with trucks, while only 2% were killed by an impact with a car.

MTA then hired an Ornithological Behaviorist to determine if there was a cause for the disproportionate percentages of truck kills versus car kills.

The Ornithological Behaviorist very quickly concluded the cause: when crows eat road kill, they always have a look-out crow in a nearby tree to warn of impending danger.

The scientific conclusion was that while all the lookout crows could say "Cah", none could say "Truck."