Mary
Forum Replies Created
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@Michele I will blame my inability to tell them apart on increasing cataracts, however there is a time during molting season around August here when I can tell them apart. It is also funny that they seem to visit in pairs. I do remember when mom and dad were here with the two young, the young ones had fluffy round heads. I think those two are my current visitors, but I have no way of verifying that. So frustrating. Everything I report is anecdotal without tags or chips; I have to just enjoy them and share with fellow crow fans.
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After reading the responses to the question of crows eating eggs, it occurs to me that one should simply ask, "Do you eat eggs?" and smile sweetly.
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@Michele Michele, your crows are more proactive than mine. Perhaps they see that I will do the squirrel removal for them. Not that it has any lasting effect. I hate that squirrel! I also notice that the scrub jays would swoop in to take food as the crows spent time checking out the situation. Since I was originally putting out walnut bits for small birds, I put them in the leaves of a small oak to foil the squirrel. The crows would try to "hover" to pick the walnuts out of the Oak. When I tossed out nuts for ground feeders as I ate lunch, one crow would sidle up to the food as if not looking at it would trick me into thinking that wasn't where he was headed. My crows are not as regular during mating season but return when the nestling(s) are more able to be on their own.
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This part of the course was discouraging. I maintain my suburban garden for the pollinators and birds who are resident or migrating and try to make it as natural as possible. No lawn. There are lots of insects to eat and no pesticides. The crows turned up when I started sharing my breakfast walnuts with the chickadees and oak titmice. Whenever my cat Isobel caught a rat, I would set it out for the crows. I hate to think that my daily walnut offerings are in any way hurting their reproductive success. I do see crows eating out of discarded snack and fast food bags. Sometimes they will steal from my lunch plate, but I have been eating less meat. Do you think my offerings and their thefts could be contributing to a lower reproductive success?
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I have seen large groups but I don't know that they were foraging as they were not on the ground. It was more like a "meeting" in the sycamore behind my yard. I believe it was fall or early winter because the tree was bare of leaves. The other flocks that I have seen in my yard were wild parrots and Cedar wax wings. I have also seen groups of pigeons and black birds "brewers?" or "red wing?" on the now weed covered ex dump that is out by the San Francisco bay.
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I "think" (since I don't have the ability to tag) that I have had a pair who had two babies who are currently regular visitors. There was a new baby this year. I remember when the two babies were young and hung out in the back yard. You could see their cute young bird head shapes and watch their their games. One would carry sticks around in a way that made me think that she was "playing house." The chickadees and oak titmice that come bring their babies, looking sleek and plump while the parents look bedraggled, but they became a pair again soon after.
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I was also surprised at how long they can live and that you can still recognize them when they have lost all their Id tags. I also wonder if the wing tags are annoying. I was also wondering when researchers would start using some kind of broadcasting tag since miniaturization has gotten so good. And I was wondering what kind of camera the researchers have that can now catch birds on the fly.
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I am confident that I can distinguish crows from other birds (though perhaps not yet from ravens) especially the babies, although I doubt that I will ever get that close. "Our" fledgling was walking about on our porch as a friend arrived for dinner. Oh! the out cry from parents and relatives as he approached! I wish I had seen the youngster.
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I envy you your variety of crows and am entertained by the differences in the actions of your crows as opposed to my American crows. They will pretty much leave the squirrels alone even though I have seen the squirrels go out of their way, like crawling upside down on a wire, to aggravate the crow on the wire below. Our crows are aware of any and all predators and have a particular call for predators. They did learn that my cat who originally elicited the warning is not a danger and they no longer call when they see him.
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I am so pleased to see that the evil (non native) fox squirrels are the more likely predator and we do have resident squirrels. When I yell at the squirrels, the crows know they are not the ones being shooed away. There are many crows in my suburban neighborhood in San Mateo, California. This year the crows nested in the Ash in our front yard. The pair who normally come for walnuts were the "look outs" and cawed with vigor whenever we went in or out. After the nestling was big enough and had moved on to different trees, they started coming back for walnuts. Family duties come first. There is a somewhat wild area where I do volunteer restoration. The ravens play "keep away" on the updrafts with sticks or small prey. It is great fun to watch them. As to the benefits of crows; I have seen them mobbing the poor Cooper's hawks. No creature for miles around could be unaware of the hawk's presence.