John M. Marzluff, co-author of the award-winning In the Company of Crows and Ravens, has been featured in a recent NPR interview discussing the “Crow Paradox.” This popular broadcast originally aired on July 27th, but can be accessed online here.

In the interview, Marzluff discusses research he conducted at the University of Washington, which finds that while most humans can’t differentiate between individual crows (or even between species of similar birds), crows have the ability to recognize and remember the faces of people they’ve encountered before. This adaptive skill enables crows to distinguish between a man who throws breadcrumbs and another who carries a rifle.

In their book, Marzluff and co-author Tony Angel argue that crows and people share similar traits and social strategies. “To a surprising extent,” they contend, “to know the crow is to know ourselves.”

For more about the “Crow Paradox” broadcast on NPR, check out the animated video below.