"Nature" A Murder of Crows (2010)

Director:

Susan Fleming

Writers:

Daniel Bernstein (writer)
Ted Remerowski (writer)

TV Series:

"Nature" (1982)

Original Air Date:

24 October 2010 (Season 29, Episode 3)

Genre:

Documentary | Family

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Crow | Bird | Wildlife | Science

Cast

Anna Braun	...	Herself
John Marzluff	...	Himself
Ulrich Watermann	...	Himself
Nora Young	...	Herself / Narrator

Directed by
Susan Fleming

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Daniel Bernstein		writer
Ted Remerowski		writer

Produced by
Michael Allder	....	executive producer
Susan Fleming	....	producer
Fred Kaufman	....	executive producer
Laura Metzger	....	senior producer
Bill Murphy	....	series producer
Bijan Rezvani	....	producer
Caroline Underwood	....	senior producer
Chie Witt	....	associate producer
Janice Young	....	supervising producer

Original Music by
Geoff Bennett
Andre Hirtz
Ben Johannesen

Cinematography by
Nick de Pencier

Film Editing by
David New

Art Direction by
Susan Fleming

Production Management
Andrea Minty	....	production manager
Joseph Murnaghan	....	post-production supervisor
Julie Schapiro Thorman	....	production manager

Art Department
Brian Santalone	....	pagebuilder
Joy Weeng	....	designer

Sound Department
Jean Bot	....	dialogue editor
Ed Campbell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Scot Charles	....	sound recordist
Goro Koyama	....	foley artist
Andy Malcolm	....	foley artist
Nick de Pencier	....	sound recordist
David Rose	....	supervising sound editor
Peter Sawade	....	sound recordist
Lou Solakofski	....	sound re-recording mixer
Don White	....	sound re-recording mixer

Visual Effects by
Mark Driver	....	visual effects
David Hedley	....	visual effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Keith Brust	....	camera operator
Russell Gienapp	....	camera operator
Onno Weeda	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
David Hedley	....	colorist
David Hedley	....	on-line editor
Patrick Krass	....	on-line editor

Music Department
George Meanwell	....	musician: cello

Other crew
James Cowan	....	animal wrangler
Sarah Darro	....	production assistance
Sam Egendorf	....	production assistance
Eileen Fraher	....	manager
William Grant	....	executive in charge
Daniel B. Greenberg	....	senior director
Janet Hess	....	series editor
David Hirmes	....	strategy director
Jayne Jun	....	production assistant
Anna Klich	....	animal wrangler
Georgia Kovalik	....	production coordinator
Peter Kovalik	....	title designer
Brian Lee	....	technical director
Sylvia Magrys	....	researcher
Nick Miller	....	creative director
Anne Pick	....	fixer
Anne Pick	....	story editor
Jill Spitz	....	publicist
Ulrich Watermann	....	animal wrangler

Thanks
Heather Cornell	....	special thanks
John Marzluff	....	special thanks

Directed by
Nigel Cole		(episode "Wild Horses of Mongolia")

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Mark Hobson		(episode "Gooney Birds of Midway") (episode "Mountains in the Mist") (episode "Resurrection at Truk Lagoon") (episode "Saguaro - Sentinel of the Desert") (episode "Yellowstone In Winter")

Produced by
Suzanne Weinert	....	producer (episode "Wild Horses of Mongolia")

Production Management
John F. Schwally	....	senior production manager (1993-1998)

Sound Department
Rob Whitehurst	....	sound recordist (1995-)

Music Department
Rob Cairns	....	composer: main title (1999-)

Other crew
Billy Pittard	....	creative director
Juan Rosenfeldt	....	title designer
Ed Sullivan	....	creative director

Production Companies

• Optix Digital Pictures

Other Companies

• Binghamton University  special thanks
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca  special thanks
• Duke University  special thanks
• Konrad Lorenz Institute  special thanks
• Kyushu Electric Power Company  special thanks
• McGill University  special thanks
• Tattersall Sound  re-recording mixer
• University of Auckland New Zealand  special thanks
• University of Tokyo  special thanks
• University of Vienna  special thanks
• University of Washington  special thanks: all their help and support to
• Wild Bird Society of Japan  special thanks
• Willamette University  special thanks

Filming Locations:

Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Optix Digital Pictures

Very smart birds

Crows live everywhere in the world except Antarctica and are a part of myths and legends in many cultures. Their reputation in the stories varies from comical to frightening, godlike or wise, bringers of light and bringers of death, though a "murder" of crows refers to a flock of crows, and not to anything murderous, at all. They may be all these things, but what we are learning is that they are especially smart.

New research has shown that they are among the most intelligent animals on the planet. They use tools as only elephants and chimpanzees do, and recognize 250 distinct calls. One particular talent they have been discovered to possess is the ability to recognize individual human faces and pick them out of a crowd up to two years later – a trick that might make even Hitchcock shiver with fright.

They thrive wherever people live and have used their great intelligence to adapt again and again to a constantly changing world. Some memorize garbage truck routes, and follow the feast from day to day. Others drop nuts in the road and wait for passing cars to crack them open. And some build their nests from items we throw away – like wire clothes hangers.

These are social birds that mate for life and raise their young for up to five years. And they learn from each other's misfortunes. When one is killed in a farmer's field, it's not uncommon for them to change entire migratory patterns so that no crows fly over that field for as long as two years.

These birds might have a scary reputation, but what may prove to be the scariest thing about them is how much they know about us, and how little we know about them!