"If men had wings and bore black feathers
few of them would be clever enough to be crows."

- Henry Ward Beecher


I ovog jutra, kao i svakog drugog, sjedenem u autobus, poluprazan, ista linija, isti put. A najdraze mi je sjesti pored prozora i to na desnom dijelu autobusa. A zasto bas na desno i zasto bas do prozora? Ne samo sto volim gledati kroz prozor, vec s te strane je cijelim putem trotoar s vecim zelenim povrsinama i gomile vrana razasutih po tim travnjacima, trotoaru, granama drveca...

Nevjerojatno interesantne ptice, pomalo misticnog izgleda, smijesnih gegova tijelom i inteligentnog pretrazivanja terena u potrazi za necim, njima dragim.

Uglavnom je to jelo, neki crv ili sto li vec. Ali, da su vrane samo obicne ptice koje traze svoju hranu, to stvarno nisu. One komuniciraju medjusobno, svadjaju se, lukavo prilaze necem interesantnom njima, a onda to dograbljuju. Ali zato se nas ljudi se plase kao lude.

Poput ovoga jutra npr., kos za smece i neka vrecica. Skupila se ekipa od njih 10 i pocele su se medjusobno svadjati i grabiti tu vrecicu. Ne, nisu je rastrgale, vec je jedna na kraju uhvatila drzak vrecice i pocela ju vuci i htjela pri tome poletjeti. Ne znam kako je to zavrsilo jer je autobus krenuo dalje. A anegdota ima toliko da ni sam vise ne znam koju bih opisao.

Zagreb je prepun vrana, osobito u jutarnjim satima i iako ih neklad davno nisam bas simpatizirao, postale su mi toliko simpaticne i zanimljive da ih uvijek, kad naidjem na njih pozdravljam s "gospodjo".



OPCENITO O VRANAMA:

Crows belong to the family Corvidae. Crows are found all over the world, except for New Zealand, Antarctica, and South America. Crows have grown quite accustomed to human development. Crows are found in both the city and in the country. They now thrive on the trash we humans discard. Early morning trash can or dumpster dinings are very common. If anyone is to be blamed for the "explosion" in the crow population, it is us "lowly humans". Ravens, on the other hand, have retreated as a result of increased human development. The American Crow, Corvus brachyrynchos, when fully grown is 17" to 21" (from tip of bill to tip of tail). Weight when fully grown; approximately one pound.There is no way to tell by physical appearance alone, as to whether a crow is male or female. DNA testing of blood will indicate sex. Close study of crows in their daily life, especially during nesting season may provide a clue as to sex, however, this is not something that many people will be able to observe.

Izvor gornjeg teksta i vise informacija na: http://www.zeebyrd.com/corvi29/


INTELIGENCIJA VRANA

Yet these very intelligent birds are many times scorned, hated or ignored by birders. They are accused of robbing nests of young songbirds, scaring away other birds, monopolizing backyard birdfeeders, being too loud with their "caws."

Throughout history and around the world, the crow has been woven through mythology, religions, and superstitions. And recently this summer, crows were given another black mark by society as being the carriers of the West Nile Virus, a deadly disease on the east coast of the U.S. in the summer of 1999.

It has been said that crows have been know to be able to count. (Whether this has been scientifically determined is uncertain.) A story is usually told about three hunters going into a hunter's blind. They wait, the crows know they are in there. The crows do not move into shooting range. Two hunters leave the blind, however the crows know that there is one more in there. When the third hunter leaves, the crows know that all are gone and resume their normal activity. Whether or not this is true, I do not know. I have read it often enough that I am sure that someone has witnessed this occurrence. Or, it could just be another urban legend.

Crows have extremely good memory. "A crow never forgets", especially when it comes to something to be feared, or where they placed their cache of food for later consumption.

Izvor: http://birding.about.com/library/weekly/aa112999a.htm




O MISTICIZMU VRANA

In Greek mythology the gods often have birds or animals that are associated with them. Phoibos Apollo is sometimes associated with the crow... Procitajte tekst u cjelosti, o vranama u mitolosko doba: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/9884/crow.html

Za one zainteresirane da jos vise procitraju uz sve navedeno, neizbjezan izvor:http://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/FishCrow.htm

I za kraj mali video isjecak gdje se vidi samo jedan mali aspekt njihove inteligencije.