# Crows



## hiraeth2018 (Aug 22, 2020)

My bird feeder and bird bath are placed in front of a large window which I can stare at, contemplate the mess we are living in right now. A variety of birds, rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, banana slugs and occasional dog walker. This particular crow is a regular.


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## ManjaroKDE (Aug 23, 2020)

Some of our residents feed dried bread to the flock of crows that inhabit our park.  Problem is the crows are smart, they pick up the bread and fly it to our new fountain.  They soak it in the water, the excess plugs up the drain holes leaving just a few holes to keep the pumps going.  I watched for several days as either the manager or handyman spent time cleaning out the drains. 

I went over and suggested that they get a life size fake owl, put it on a pole but remember to move it every couple days around the fountain convincing the crows that it's real.  Problem solved, no crows will land.  Need to get a life, I watch a lot of nature documentaries.


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## Aunt Marg (Aug 23, 2020)

We love our rave friends. 

Aside from being territorial and putting the run on hawks and such, I just love how keen their eyesight is. Amazing at what they don't miss.

We feed ours meat scraps, bread, and they love sausage casings. My husband is generous in leaving a little sausage left on the casings to keep them happy.


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## hiraeth2018 (Aug 23, 2020)

ManjaroKDE said:


> Some of our residents feed dried bread to the flock of crows that inhabit our park.  Problem is the crows are smart, they pick up the bread and fly it to our new fountain.  They soak it in the water, the excess plugs up the drain holes leaving just a few holes to keep the pumps going.  I watched for several days as either the manager or handyman spent time cleaning out the drains.
> 
> I went over and suggested that they get a life size fake owl, put it on a pole but remember to move it every couple days around the fountain convincing the crows that it's real.  Problem solved, no crows will land.  Need to get a life, I watch a lot of nature documentaries.


You will have to let me know if your crows ever figure it out...


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## Phoenix (Aug 23, 2020)

Crows are wonderful souls.  They support their own.  They grieve.  They are good parents.  We cut off the crusts from our bread at lunch time, break them into pieces and put them on the deck railing.  When the crows are raising their young in the nests that are nearby, they come and pick up the bread.


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## Aunt Marg (Aug 23, 2020)

Phoenix said:


> *Crows are wonderful souls.  They support their own.  They grieve.  They are good parents.*  We cut off the crusts from our bread at lunch time, break them into pieces and put them on the deck railing.  When the crows are raising their young in the nests that are nearby, they come and pick up the bread.


Couldn't have said it better!

As for Ravens, they are the smartest birds in the bird kingdom.


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## Phoenix (Aug 23, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> Couldn't have said it better!
> 
> As for Ravens, they are the smartest birds in the bird kingdom.


We don't have ravens here.  I only know about ravens from documentaries.  But birds are descended from dinosaurs, so they've had millions of years to get it right.


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## Ruth n Jersey (Aug 23, 2020)

We rarely see crows around here. We have what my Grandpa called crow black birds,I'm not sure what the real name is but they are just a bit smaller than a crow.


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## Keesha (Aug 23, 2020)

Crows are apparently the worlds smartest bird. 
Im not sure how true it is but they certainly are crafty.


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## Aunt Marg (Aug 23, 2020)

Ruth n Jersey said:


> We rarely see crows around here. We have what my Grandpa called crow black birds,I'm not sure what the real name is but they are just a bit smaller than a crow.


My guess is the Common Blackbird or Starling.


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## hiraeth2018 (Aug 23, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> Couldn't have said it better!
> 
> As for Ravens, they are the smartest birds in the bird kingdom.


Short story...
I grew up in the south eastern corner of Washington state. Magpies are plentiful there and they are in the same family group as crows.
My grandfather had 2 as free roaming pets and they both had quite the personalities. When I started first grade the smartest one would follow me to school (small town and yes, we walked to school back then). My classroom had low windows and a small window sill running the length of the room. That magpie would spend several minutes squawking, running back and forth on that sill and calling out my name before flying off.


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## Keesha (Aug 23, 2020)

There are different types of black birds - common, rusty , brewers and then there are starlings, abd grackles . Grackles have the metallic blue heads. We get a huge flock of well over a thousand each spring. They stop in our neighbourhood to eat while migrating. The sound of them is enchanting and when they take off you literally hear a whoosh sound. It’s so cool. I had some really nice close ups on my old phone but lost all my pictures. I’m still kicking myself about that one.


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## MickaC (Aug 23, 2020)

Sorry........i have a real downer about crows and ravens
Get far to many in town.
Both are very destructive on the nice birds nests, eat the eggs and little baby birds.
Grackles, Bluejays, Starlings, play the same game.


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## Keesha (Aug 23, 2020)

Cow birds actually steal another birds nests, kick their eggs out and lay their own. 
Talk about lazy!


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## Aunt Marg (Aug 23, 2020)

hiraeth2018 said:


> Short story...
> I grew up in the south eastern corner of Washington state. Magpies are plentiful there and they are in the same family group as crows.
> My grandfather had 2 as free roaming pets and they both had quite the personalities. When I started first grade the smartest one would follow me to school (small town and yes, we walked to school back then). My classroom had low windows and a small window sill running the length of the room. That magpie would spend several minutes squawking, running back and forth on that sill and calling out my name before flying off.


Wow! A totally sweet story! 

There is so much we don't understand about nature.


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## MickaC (Aug 24, 2020)

Cowbirds take it to the next level.
After they kick out the eggs out...........they lay their own........and their job is done........they let the birds that they stole the nest from in the first place, raise the Cowbirds young.
So often on the farm, saw other birds, hatching and feeding the cowbird's fletchings.
Talk about lazy.......or smart.


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## Keesha (Aug 24, 2020)

MickaC said:


> Cowbirds take it to the next level.
> After they kick out the eggs out...........they lay their own........and their job is done........they let the birds that they stole the nest from in the first place, raise the Cowbirds young.
> So often on the farm, saw other birds, hatching and feeding the cowbird's fletchings.
> Talk about lazy.......or smart.


YES I forgot that part and cowbirds hatch far sooner that most other birds which is totally unfair for that poor bird mom. Just goes to show you there AH’s in the bird world too.


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## Keesha (Aug 24, 2020)

Bird or goat?


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## RadishRose (Aug 24, 2020)

First glance I saw goat. But now, I only see bird. So cool!


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## RadishRose (Aug 24, 2020)

Crows are very smart.


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## Ken N Tx (Aug 24, 2020)

RadishRose said:


> Crows are very smart.


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## Phoenix (Aug 24, 2020)

I saw the goat first too.  Then the bird.


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## RadishRose (Aug 24, 2020)

Ken N Tx said:


>


I saw that vid. They can learn water displacement in order to get some to drink. They also wash their food when possible.


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## Phoenix (Aug 24, 2020)

One of the cool things this shows is their ability to use tools to accomplish things, to figure out what needs to happen and do it.  Once upon a time not that long ago humans thought we were the only ones with that kind of intelligence.  We were wrong.


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