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I’ve been reading a little about crows. Apparently they are quite intelligent, and able to recognize different humans. If a human harms a crow they will remember and gang up on him. At least that is what I’ve read. I wonder if anyone here has any positive ir negative experience with crows?
I really like corvids (crows, ravens, etc.) and love to watch them. Besides just everyday observation I can't say much of my own experience, but there was an interesting nature documentary about their puzzle-solving abilities that showed that they can make tools out of sticks and figure out some food puzzles that would be challenging even for some mammals. I think their intelligence, it was said, is comparable to a toddler on some tests, which is pretty amazing.
My friend had a brand-new Mercedes convertible sports car. He had gone to park in town and saw a crow fly over and drop a rock on it. The dent was in the roof of the car until he got rid of it. (Maybe he did something to p*ss off that crow or one of his family members in another part of town earlier in history … lol).
We have crows and ravens around here, and the ravens can get almost as big as a Bald Eagle. One day my cat decided to try to catch one, but both took off and started diving and squawking at him until he ran back in the house. Now he only likes to go outside at night.
A friend of mine has crows that "trade" with him. He sets food out on the deck for them, and after they eat everything one of them will bring back something shiny, like a piece of aluminum foil or a gum wrapper, even a couple of old buttons. They're neat animals.
In times past, many people would shoot crows on sight. They avoided humans and you never saw any in town or near houses. There were many flat-roofed buildings in our downtown area and nighthawks established a nesting colony on them. You could often see young nighthawks in the summer, on those flat, tar roofs.
But then, crows became protected and there was a general cessation of people shooting any type of birds or animals around town. So gradually, the crows moved into the city and you sometimes see hundreds of them flocking around parks and schoolyards. But the nighthawk eggs and young were easy prey for them and their nesting colony was exterminated.
If you were hurt and immobilized out in the woods and there was no one to help, the crows would eat you, if the possums didn't get you first. They would eat you in your own backyard, if you became injured and no one was there to protect you. Think about that, the next time you see some eating at your feeder. If you died or was struck down by a health condition out there, you'd provide them with one last meal.
I love how they congregate on a residential street & then act like they have the right of way. They could literally care less how many pounds of metal & glass are coming down the road towards them. They’re like: “Don’t rush me “.
Or the flocks around a fast food parking lot? They remind me of your local neighborhood “hood-rats”. Crows are like the adolescent boys of the bird world: Show-offs, loud & obnoxious, like a bunch of 15 year olds on skateboards.
Surprisingly fierce! About a month ago I was going to the store & saw a crow & a hawk in a mid-air duel over some piece of food the hawk had in its talons. About two hours later I was on my way home ... & those two were still going at it!
I live at 7,000 ft elevation next to 400 ft bluffs & one of the largest urban-wildlife interfaces in the country & I have seen a hawk land on a light pole across the street with its prey & I will tell you: Feathers fly & you can hear bones breaking as they eat. The hawks here compete with Eagles & they are large & muscular ... but that darn Crow was holding his own. Unbelievable!
But then, crows became protected and there was a general cessation of people shooting any type of birds or animals around town. So gradually, the crows moved into the city and you sometimes see hundreds of them flocking around parks and schoolyards. But the nighthawk eggs and young were easy prey for them and their nesting colony was exterminated.
There's a reason other birds mob them when they have eggs or young.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve McDonald
If you were hurt and immobilized out in the woods and there was no one to help, the crows would eat you, if the possums didn't get you first. They would eat you in your own backyard, if you became injured and no one was there to protect you. Think about that, the next time you see some eating at your feeder. If you died or was struck down by a health condition out there, you'd provide them with one last meal.
That is a sobering thought. They eat live chickens out in the run or on free range. They peck the eyes out of lambs in the field.
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