The loyalty of Crows

I've just been out to look at an injured crow which is hoping about our garden.
I noticed it's being protected by two other crows. I orginally went out to investigate after hearing the enormous racket being made by the two protectors as they dive bombed a large cat who had unwisely got too near. Once they'd driven away the cat I also saw one of the birds feed the injured crow. Perhaps they are its parents. Either way it's an impressive display of loyalty.

I always recommend that people visit a website called www.ted.com
It's a fantastic place to see and hear great speakers talk about a wide range of fascinating topics. One talk I saw was about the intelligence of crows. Seemingly they are very intelligent. In one experiment students captured crows on campus and put them through a series of tests. What was interesting to me was that after the birds were released they would attack the students when ever they saw them (It got so bad the students had to wear masks to avoid attack). Not only did the crows recognise them as the people who had captured them but some three years later when one of the students returned to the campus the crows still remembered and attacked him.

So I'm going to see if I can help the crow but here's hoping I'm not going to be attacked now or indeed in three years times!

PS. Ted.com advice to speakers, which is well worth following, is as follows:

*Rehearse but act spontaneous
*Provide revelations
*Show vulnerability
*Don't be tedious
*Change the world