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Mondays can be tough. Here’s a thread of corvids being silly.
Act one: On the merits of tail pulling
Common raven and sweater vest
Common raven and sweater vest
Hooded crow and Protecc Dog
Hooded crow and curly butt
Hooded crows and furry death machines
Hooded crow and sausage dog
Common raven and the original pet-me-not doggo
The science: corvids pull tails to distract victims from food (wolf gif is perfect example), but they may also do it to demonstrate boldness or just for fun #PullAllTheTails
Act 2: Light bones, light fingers
Science: Kleptoparasitism is a foraging strategy where animals steal food from other animals. There are no obligate (meaning exclusive) kleptoparasites but some birds do it more than others. Relative to some seabirds, corvids don’t do it that much.
For imprinted birds though, stealing objects from owners (as with the hooded crow and the frying pan) could be a game or a way to get attention.
Act 3: Miscellaneous shenanigans
NSFW raven
Carrion crow uses crosswalk in Japan
Rook ruins ball at 2015 British Open
Austrian ravens are narcs https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/12/breaking-bird-clever-crow-helps-police-by-finding-drug-stash/amp/
Act 4: An ode to snow play
“Snowboarding” hooded crow
Common raven with snowball
Finally, shenanigans are more fun together
Science: corvids play, even as adults. Snow play is one of the seven described forms of play. They may slide, roll, or play with objects in snow, or the snow itself.
