June

In Oregon, I often see crows eating squirrel carrion in local streets while dodging traffing. (We have a lot of squirrels in Beaverton.) Crows walk about in lawns, parking lots and gardens searching for insects and whatever else they can find. Crows are designated "the clean-up crew" around here. We have many crows in our area and I have a particular crow family that I feed every morning. There are 8 members of a family and they wait on my patio each morning for their breakfast of wild bird seed, nuts and sometimes left-overs from dinner (chicken or pork). I have tried feeding them fruit such as strawberries or banana, but they seem to have no interest. When I go "birding" at our local nature park, there is a family of crows who wait near the ducks for hand-outs from visitors feeding the ducks. While I was in this park last summer, a crow landed on the hood of my car and pecked at my windshield for food. It was surprising and amusing at the audacity of this crow who was brave enough to land on my car and demand food! Naturally, it got its way. Crows are fascinating birds because they are intelligent and one can actually have relationships with them. They react kindly to people they like and scold those they don't like. I look forward to seeing them in my yard each morning.  

I have heard these theories: 1.Male crows are impressing females by indicating how protective they are, thus are excellent choices for mates. 2. Crows (males) are genetically programmed to go after any bird that is intruding their territory. I wonder if Dr. McGowan agrees with either of these theories?

How interesting that you have such a variety of crows in Scotland! I have a family of crows (American crow - brachyrhynchos) here in Oregon that I feed each morning in my garden, thus I enjoy studying their habits each year. Similar to your crows, the American crow seems to know when a predator is nearby, as it will vocalize alarm calls and everyone flies off.  Also, whenever a hawk (we have many varieties here in the Pacific northwest) is near, our crows mob the hawk, continuously harrassing it, all the while vocalizing alarm calls and pecking at it whilst it flees. Such brave crows! That is always quite a sight! Another difference is that our crows seem to tolerate squirrels, despite the fact that they eat the same nuts and seeds that I put out every morning.