Crows Are Smarter than You Think 乌鸦比你想的更聪明

乌鸦比你想的更聪明
by Anne Marie Helmenstine
颜丹译
A crow ’s brain is only about the size of a human thumb,so how smart could they be?
乌鸦的大脑只有人类拇指那么大，那么它们能有多聪明呢？
As smart as a primate 2While a crow ’s brain may seem small in comparison 3to a human brain,what matters is the size of the brain in relation to the size of the animal.Relative to its body,a crow ’s brain and a primate ’s brain are comparable.像灵长目动物一样聪明
虽然乌鸦的大脑与人脑相比可能看起来很小，但重要的是大脑大小的大小与动物身体大小之间的比例。

相对于身体的大小，乌鸦的大脑和灵长目动物的大脑大小相当。

They recognize 4human faces
Can you tell one crow from another?In this respect 5,a crow may be smarter than you because it can recognize human faces.The scientists caught crows,tagged them,and then set them free.Members of the team wore different masks.Crows would dive -bomb and scold people wearing a mask,but only if the mask had been worn by someone who had messed with them.
它们能辨别出人脸
你能分辨出一只乌鸦和另一只乌鸦吗？在这方面，乌鸦可能比你更聪明，因为它能识别人类的面孔。

科学家们捕捉乌鸦，给它们贴上标签，然后释放它们。

团队成员们戴着不同的面具。

乌鸦会俯冲攻击并“叱骂”戴面具的人，但前提是戴面具的是之前抓它们的人。

They talk about you to other crows
If you think two crows watching you and cawing 6at each other are talking about you,you ’re probably right.In the study mentioned above,even crows that were never caught attacked 7scientists.How did the crows tell it to other crows?Crow communication is poorly understood.
它们会跟其他乌鸦谈论你
如果你认为两只在看着你并且互相啼叫的乌鸦是在谈论你，那么你可能是对的。

在前面提到的研究中，即使是从未被捕获的乌鸦也会攻击科学家。

乌鸦如何告诉其他乌鸦的？人们对乌鸦之间的交流知之甚少。

They remember what you did
It turns out crows can pass on a grudge 8to their offspring 9—even subsequent 10generations of crows attacked masked scientists.
Another case of crow memory comes from Chatham,Ontario.Around half a million crows would stop in Chatham on their migration 11route 12,posing a threat 13to the farming community ’s crops.The hunt began.Since then,the crows have bypassed Chatham,flying high enough to avoid being shot.This had not,however,stopped them from leaving droppings all over the city.
它们记得你做了什么
事实证明，乌鸦可以将怨恨传递给后代———甚至是乌鸦的后代也会袭击戴面具的科学家。

另一个关于乌鸦记忆的案例来自加拿大安大略省的查塔姆。

大约50万只乌鸦会在迁徙途中停留在查塔姆，对农业社区的作物构成威胁。

狩猎开始了。

从那时起，乌鸦都会绕过查塔姆，飞得足够高，以避免被射杀。

然而，这并没有阻止它们在全市各地留下粪便。

They use tools to solve problems Crows are the only non-primates that make new tools.
In the fable14of“The Crow and the Pitcher15”,a thirsty crow drops stones into a water pitcher to raise the water level to take a drink.Scientists tested whether crows really are this smart.They placed a floating treat in a deep tube.The crows in the test dropped dense16objects into the water until the treat floated within reach.They didn’t choose objects that would float in the water,nor did they choose ones that were too large for the container.它们使用工具解决问题
乌鸦是唯一会制造新工具的非灵长类动物。

在寓言故事《乌鸦和水罐》中，一只口渴的乌鸦向水罐里扔石头，以抬高水位来喝水。

科学家们测试了乌鸦是否真的这么聪明。

他们在一根深管子里放了一个漂浮的食物。

试验中的乌鸦将密度高的物体抛入水中，直到食物漂浮到够得着的范围内。

它们没有选择能漂浮在水中的物体，也没有选择对容器来说太大的物体。

Crows plan for the future When a crow hides food,it looks around to see if it’s being seen.If it sees another animal is watching,the crow will pretend to hide its treasure,but will really stash17it in its feathers.The crow then flies away to find a new secret spot18.If a crow sees another
crow hiding its treasure,it
knows about this little game
and won’t be fooled.乌鸦会为未来做计划
当乌鸦把食物藏起来时，它会环顾四周，看看是否有人看到。

如果乌鸦看到另一只动物在看，它会假装藏起它的财宝，但实际上它会把财宝藏在它的羽毛里。

然后乌鸦飞走，去寻找一个新的秘密地点。

如果一只乌鸦看到另一只乌鸦在藏财宝，它就知道这个小把戏，不会上当。

【Notes 】（英语原文选自： ）
They adapt to new situations
Crows have adapted to life in a human world.They watch what we do and learn from us.Crows have been seen to drop nuts on the roads,so the cars will crack them open.They will even watch traffic lights,only retrieving 19the nuts when the crosswalk sign is lit.
它们适应新情况
乌鸦已经适应了人类的世界。

它们观察我们做什么，并向我们学习。

人们看到乌鸦把坚果扔到车道上，这样汽车会把它们碾开。

它们甚至会观察交通信号灯，只有在人行横道灯亮起时才取回坚果。

They may outsmart your pets
Intelligence is complicated and difficult to measure.An animal ’s skills at problem -solving and memory do not only depend on its brain.Yet,even by the same standards used to measure human intelligence,crows are super smart.
它们也许比你的宠物更聪明
智力是复杂而难以测量的。

动物解决问题和记忆的能力不仅仅取决于大脑。

然而，即使按照衡量人类智力的相同标准来说，乌鸦也是超级聪明的。

1.crow [].乌鸦
2.primate [].灵长目动物
parison [].比较，对照
4.recognize []认识，辨别出
5.respect []方面，着眼点
6.caw []呱呱地叫，聒噪
7.attack []袭击，攻击
8.grudge []怨恨
9.offspring []后代；幼崽
10.subsequent []随后的11.migration [].迁徙
12.route []路线13.threat [].威胁
14.fable []寓言15.pitcher []大水罐16.dense []密度大的17.stash []存放；藏起来18.spot []地点，场所
19.retrieve [
].找回，收回。