Sledding corvids? Let's get into it with a thread on play!

First off, from the corrections department, this is a hooded crow, not a raven. Hoodies are common throughout much of western Eurasia. https://twitter.com/ViralHog/status/1253095744631828480

Hooded crows LOVE playing in the snow. If a hooded crow sees a snowy incline it'sgoingdownit

In fact, the QT'd video isn't the only video of a hooded crow using an object to slide down a snowy incline. This video taken in 2012 is probably the more infamous example.

Now, whether hoodies actually play in the snow more than the corvids or they just get recorded more, is a matter of uncertainty. There are many other corvids that enjoy a good romp in the fluff, including common ravens

So instead of trying to crown the top snow clown, let's instead focus on what might be behind these behaviors. Is it an accident? Are they practicing something? Are they just having fun?

While I lack the context (or mind reading abilities) to discern what's going on in this specific video I can offer that, even into adulthood, crows and ravens are widely recognized by ~science~ to play.

What I mean by that, is that they spontaneously engage in behaviors with no immediate or direct fitness (survival) benefits. This is relatively unusual because most other animals (especially as adults) lack the time, security, or neural networks to engage in such frivolity.

But social corvids have all three, which means whether they are using chunks of bark to windsurf, playing catch with pinecones, or snowboarding on trash, corvids engage in a variety of pretty hilarious play behaviors.

If it's true that they play the next question is, well, why? Before I get there, let me step back and explain one quick point. Play can be dangerous. That matters because it means that despite the potential costs, they still do it. Which implies there's an evolutionary value.

So by "why?" what I really mean is, "what is the evolutionary value?" The simultaneously disappointing & inspiring answer is: we still don't know. The intuitive answer is that they use it to hone skills, but we haven't found that to be true in crows or many mammals.

A 2017 study on New Caledonian crows found that crows may use play as an opportunity to learn about an object's properties (like its weight or rigidity) that may come in handy later.
http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/4/9/170652

A 2007 study on ravens showed they might be using playful object caching as a way to evaluate competitors-something ravens are constantly itching to do. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982207020076

Then again, while it's been more difficult to parse, there's the possibility that just having fun IS the value. Maybe it's good for their brains, or bodies, just as it is for ours.

So was this crow really snowboarding? I'm going to say yeah, it probably was. B/c it's fun & maybe for other reasons. The main lesson being, if you're situationally privileged enough to be silly for no reason that's pretty special. And you should take all the advantage you can