Your morning adorable: Dog and bird play ball

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We were astounded when we first saw YouTube user MASSEUR1956‘s video proof of the camaraderie between a clever raven and a patient dog.

We knew that members of the corvid family (which includes crows, ravens, rooks, magpies, jackdaws and other similar birds) are often extremely intelligent with impressive problem-solving abilities and reasoning skills. But we did not know they enjoyed interspecies animal friendships, nor did we know they had a penchant for playing sports!

These two unlikely friends can also be seen sharing a meal or just hanging out together on MASSEUR1956’s channel. One video even shows the raven -- for reasons unclear to us but, we suspect, incredibly obvious to a fellow bird -- plucking the fur from a wire slicker brush as his canine pal is groomed. Perhaps most oddly charming of all is a video that shows the dog gently licking his raven pal. (That’s an ‘awww’ and an ‘ewww’ moment all rolled up in one.)

RELATED SMART CORVID FAMILY MEMBERS:
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Crows and magpies show researchers their smarts

-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: MASSEUR1956 via YouTube