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Crows and Crow Feeders: Observations on Interspecific Semiotics

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Biocommunication of Animals

Abstract

Biosemiotic studies include those which focus on systems of signs linking humans and animals. We review the general roots of interspecific communication with emphasis on biosemiotic studies. Beyond domestic animal—human communication, humans are known to communicate closely with a few wild animals with which they have mutualistic foraging relationships (dolphins, honeyguides). We reveal another such relationship in a pilot field study of American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) and human crow feeders. Our study illustrates an interdisciplinary consideration of interspecific communication goals, tactics, rewards and signals. Always alert to threats in searches for food, crows responded to a repertoire of messages and behaviors of crow feeders they recognized. Crow feeders—motivated to attract, feed, and spend time with particular crows—fall into two categories. Crow friends talk and behave with crows as they might with people. Crow observers are more detached, wanting unobtrusive interaction without emphasis on personal identities or feelings. We propose that the crow feeding events can be usefully studied with a strategic engagement model. We encourage future biosemiotic projects to (1) employ an interdisciplinary approach, (2) examine genetic in addition to biological and cultural processes, (3) explore variation across biosemiotic systems, and (4) consider real-world implications of findings.

He gets fat with ruffles and has a different walk when I tell him how handsome he is in a certain tone.

– Crow Feeder

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For readability and consistency, we have re-phrased the labels of these categories.

  2. 2.

    To clarify the connotation, Stebbins (1992, p. 8) intends the adjective “serious” to embody “such qualities as earnestness, sincerity, importance, and carefulness, rather than gravity, solemnity, joylessness, distress, and anxiety.”

  3. 3.

    Crow names are pseudonyms.

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Acknowledgments

We express our gratitude to the crow feeders who participated in our pilot study. Their hospitality greatly facilitated our work. We greatly benefitted from their insights, speculations, and questions about the lives of crows. We thank Anne Clark, who many years ago suggested that we look closely at the behavior of people who regularly interact with crows.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98105-6715, USA

    John M. Marzluff

  2. School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195-2100, USA

    Marc L. Miller

Authors
  1. John M. Marzluff
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  2. Marc L. Miller
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Correspondence to John M. Marzluff .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Telos - Philosophische Praxis, Bürmoos, Austria

    Guenther Witzany

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Marzluff, J.M., Miller, M.L. (2014). Crows and Crow Feeders: Observations on Interspecific Semiotics. In: Witzany, G. (eds) Biocommunication of Animals. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7414-8_11

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