Crows Recognize People? Dogs Recognize Cars?

I have a fondness for field research. John Marzluff of the University of Washington and his colleagues observed that the crows they had trapped previously in order to band them for identification seemed to be harder to catch later.

So, they decided to test that hypothesis by conducting a field experiment. Three researchers, Marzluff and two students, then wore a caveman mask and trapped and released seven crows. Later, whenever one of the three wore the map on campus, the crows scolded them severely.

However, whenever they walked on campus wearing another mask (a Dick Cheney mask), the crows ignored the wearers. This, of course, was the control condition.

It seems, thus, that crows recognize people who catch and handle them and remember them later. Other researchers, too, have seen similar behaviors in crows and related birds. See a New York Times article for more information.

Informally, I have conducted similar exercises. I like to watch my dogs when I pull up in a rental car. Invariably, they bark at me viciously from behind the living room windows. They stop barking after I exit the rental car and start to walk toward the front door. Also, I have often sat outside in the afternoon while the dogs walk around in the front yard. I watch carefully for cars while I wait. I don't want to explain to my children why their dogs were run over. Interestingly, when I see my wife a block away and go to protect the dogs, they hear her van approaching and start to run in its direction (something they do not do for other vehicles).

So, it seems that dogs and birds can recognize and remember things about us.