DO RAVENS HAVE SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT?

Over time, Science has acquired great knowledge, which in turn, has produced achievements in medicine, space exploration, consumer goods and, of course communication-the internet of all things life. Indeed, it would be difficult to imagine a frontier that has not been studied and conquered by scientists in pursuit of Science.

But wait, there's more. A recent article reports that a new frontier has been challenged.* Scientists have discovered that ravens--you know, the bird that quoth "Nevermore"--acknowledge and share negative emotions between fellow ravens, all without social media.

This scientific advancement was reached by testing pairs of ravens. One was offered unappealing raw carrots and more tasty dog food. When the dog food was taken away, the bird left with only carrots became cranky and unhappy. Meanwhile, the other raven was watching all this, sort of like streaming live TV. Later, a cognitive bias test was performed. The observer bird appeared to be influenced by its partner's disappointment with the raw carrots. Of course, I probably would be disappointed with carrots, as well, but I am not sure happiness comes with dog food either unless one is a dog. As expected, the article suggests more research is needed on the emotions of non-human animals.

Recently, the emotions of blackbirds made the national media.** You know, "Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie, when the pie was opened, the birds began to sing>". Well, the blackbirds at issue were not singing. They are attacking humans across the country with a singular emotion of anger.

I am sure that more research on the emotions of ravens and blackbirds will advance human society in some fashion, but I cannot quite put my finger on the "how." Meanwhile, I can offer my own experience with the emotions of the bee. Bees also appear to have only one emotion--anger. When angry, they sting. Otherwise, they work all the time, thus, the busy bee. I never have seen a happy bee, or even a friendly one.

So, why do some birds and bees have anger as their primary or even only emotion? Blame it on climate change, but it's probably politics.

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*Wilke, "Bad Moods Spread Among Ravens",
Science News, June 22, 2019, p.17

**Smith, "Hitchcock Was Right About Angry
Birds", Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2019,
p.1


© 2019 Daniel J. Kucera