Clever Corvids

I love birds and many are as intelligent as corvids - or nearly so. I used to keep pigeons and they are pretty clever too. You should read Corvus by Esther Woolfson - it's about a family who adopted a rook (and other birds). It must be great for you to see your clever crows every day.

Yes, exactly the same. They also seem to send a scout out to check if I’ve put the food out yet. They are very intelligent and currently eating/taking huge amounts.

Same here! I’ve wired the feeders to the hooks and the jackdaws still manage to get them off and remove the contents - 5 luxury fat balls almost every day! I can hardly keep up.
I’ve posted before about them hammering at my windows which is quite off putting to say the least. I’m keeping the bedroom windows covered which seems to help, but they can see their reflection in the landing window which I can’t cover and they attack their own reflections in that during the day, from the crack of dawn!
I know orphaned, hand reared jackdaws can be taught to talk, although it’s illegal to capture them.
I saw a programme years ago, where tame crows dropped stones in a narrow container of water to raise the level to get a drink. Clever?

Just glanced out of the window and the 5 fat balls I put out this morning have already gone!

Magpies collect dry bread from other gardens then bring it to our bird bath for dunking.

I once watched a crow take a nut from a walnut tree then fly high to drop it in the hope of cracking it. Unfortunately the lawn underneath was so lush and bouncy the crow had no luck!

I have a pair od semi tamed crows- well he is, she still keeps her distance but is getting bolder. They come every day to get a few soaked dog pellets, Fly to the big ash tree at the side, then down to the garden shed, and on to a large upturned water butt just a couple of meters from kitchen window. Kiddo will come and feed even if I am sitting on kitchen steps, she will wait for me to go in. Not bothered about either Yata the dog, or Minou the cat.

What has happened to Princesse - isn’t she your rescue dog?

Georgesgran - we had that problem with crows knocking on the window. We read somewhere that putting a doll in the window, or a picture of a face, would deter them. We tried it, and they moved to a different window, so we moved the doll. They gave up!

Corvus is a wonderful book! We lived nearby so could well imagine the places the author wrote about.

I used to put fat balls down in a tray for smaller birds but the rooks would come and snatch the balls up in their entirety. I had to start breaking up the fat balls by microwaving them briefly to soften them then bash them into smaller pieces.

We don’t have many covids near here but a flock of starlings has started coming into the garden and picking off bugs from the grass. I like starlings, they’re cheery little things and very pretty with their glossy feathers.

Foxygloves

What has happened to Princesse - isn’t she your rescue dog?

We've changed here name. Princesse is not good for recall and instant recognition. She got used to is straightaway.

We have some rectangular wire fat feeders. The fat is inserted through an opening at the bottom which is then hooked shut. The jackdaws lift the whole 'cage' off the hook it is hanging from and drop it from a height. They then unhook the bottom and extract the big fat rectangle from the 'cage' and fly off with huge chunks.

Corvids, especially common crows, have formidable memories and will pass on what they know to others of the same species. Show one kindness and all the other crows around will know you're a friend of crows. Feed one and it will bring you presents – paperclips, bits of ribbon, and so on. Be unkind, on the other hand, and words will get round and will be passed on to future generations.

Pigeons hang around beneath the feeders - waiting for dropped food from the smaller birds. One, rather bold, aggressive, impatient type decided to fly at the feeder instead, to dislodge a handful of sunflower hearts.

Now, a few others have copied this tactic, so my regular orders of a baker's sackful have increased. Yes, local magpies here bring bread to dip in the bird bath too!

Georgesgran

Just glanced out of the window and the 5 fat balls I put out this morning have already gone!

You need to put them in a squirrel proof feeder for fat balls, same for any seed, my Mum does this as she hates seeing squirrels and rooks and jackdaws get all the food.
I have to say that tho intelligent I don’t like any crows and similar, something to do with the way they hop and the glinty eyes.👀

We don’t have many covids near here but a flock of starlings has started coming into the garden and picking off bugs from the grass. I like starlings, they’re cheery little things and very pretty with their glossy feathers.
Yes, the starlings have arrived here again, fewer so far this year though. We thought they were eating ants ut apparently they like leather jackets best.

I like leather jackets too 😁

Oreo

I like leather jackets too 😁

I find them rather indigestible 😁

Think of them as toddling about in the grass looking like bikers 😆

Oreo

Think of them as toddling about in the grass looking like bikers 😆

🤣🤣🤣

I think it was leather jackets they were picking up from our garden. I was surprised because it’s a new build and the grass was only laid late last summer!

We rarely got starlings where we used to live so I’m happy to see these. Not so much the seagulls, who keep pooping on my white car. It looks like a ruddy Dalmatian now. 😡

I have crows nesting in a nearby tree every year. There is one who flies down to my pond every morning when the sun is on the pond, carefully and surreptitiously removes some pond weed , waits totally still and then suddenly jerks and catches a newt . Very disturbing and I am worried that the newt population is diminishing rapidly. I have ordered a net but think it will be smart enough to make a hole in it . It obviously doesn’t let other crows know about his feeding station as it is the only one who visits.

cool video
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9mrTdYhOHg
2 murders and their childern have lived around my house for 20 years they talk to you if you give them your time
when i wa young 11yrs my dad was working on his car he went in the house for something he was gone 2 crows came down and took off with 2 bolts im was blamed for loosing the parts

We get ravens ,they look more or less the same. They take their food and wet it in the birdbath before they eat which none of the other birds do. They are very intelligent and if I call them they come for food- only the currawongs will do this apart from them. It’s funny because when I call the cats in,the birds fly over too. Sometimes I feel like a witch …..

There are two things that will completely clear my garden of birds.

One is next doors cat.

The other is a magpie.

We have a pair of crows that are almost guaranteed to turn up very soon after I’ve thrown any crusts etc. on the lawn. Sometimes even before I’m back in the kitchen! Anything very dry is taken for a soaking in one of the bird baths, and they’ll typically pick up several bits until their beak can’t hold any more. I’ve seen them drop some, swallow some, and then pick up even more.
Scraps of leftover uncooked pastry are very popular!

They used to be extremely nervous - any slight movement even from behind the kitchen window would have them flying off, but they’re a lot less timid now.