The Study That Started With a Caveman Mask
In 2008, wildlife biologist John Marzluff and his team at the University of Washington walked onto the campus wearing latex caveman masks, trapped several American crows, banded them, and released them unharmed. That single interaction was enough. For years afterward, whenever anyone wore those same masks, the crows mobbed them, diving, scolding, recruiting nearby birds to join the harassment. The researchers published their findings in the journal Animal Cognition, and the follow-up observations stretched beyond three years. The crows had not forgotten a face they had seen for minutes.
