Staring contest? How about a scaring contest… with a crow!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Urban birds, like crows, tolerate us. But how do they FEEL about us?
Ask Yuiko Suzuki and team from Keio University. They attached wireless sensors with gel pad electrodes to captive large-billed crows. They analyzed heart-rate changes when humans walked by.
AND? The crows remained calm… Until, BAM! Humans at 10 meters caused heart rates to drop! They didn’t panic, they froze – a biological pause to decide what to do next. This is an anti-predator strategy – the crows assess the situation, then act.
Yup, urban birds don’t want you near, so steer clear! Or you’ll have to eat crow!
SUZUKI, Y., & IZAWA, E. I. (2026). Autonomic responses of Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchos to approaching humans. ORNITHOLOGICAL SCIENCE, 25(1), 111-116. https://doi.org/10.2326/osj.25.111