Theresa

I am one of those people who would complain about the noisy raucous murders of crows in my neighbourhood - there are way too many crows and not enough song birds! However, I am glad to know that the crows are way down the list of bad guys that eat songbirds! I can now tell others that in fact, they are around 1% of the list of predators. I am on the hunt now for a more prevalent killer of songbirds around me - somebody's cat that is allowed to roam! I was also really surprised to know that chipmunks (and squirrels) eat songbirds. Because there are so many crows in my neighbourhood (I live in London Ontario) I started watching them to see when they move in in the spring, what they do, where they seem to hang out, etc. I happened to see one crow fly to the top of a maple tree only to realize there was a nest way up there with the adult crows flying in and out. Next door to me there is a very tall spruce tree with a nest at the very top that I can't see, but that used to house crows and instead housed a family of merlins this season. Now I know there is a more annoyingly noisy bird than crows! And more dangerous! I actually saw a raven this past summer in a community garden In london ON. It caught my eye because it was huge! It also had almost a rusty bark sound rather than the caw of the crow. Apparently the raven has been hanging around that garden this summer. Having learned that the raven looks to be more common north - like Georgian Bay/Lake Huron area - when I go up to my cottage this summer I will look for ravens! It looks to me like the crows are largely the alert system for other birds. When I hear a big raucous carrying-on of crows, I look to see what they've found. Often a big old red-tailed hawk moving in for a look. The hawks persist in their alert and fly-bys until they force the hawk out of the area. That, I'm sure offers tremendous relief to birds and squirrels alike! Thanks for all the great information I'm learning!