Quote:
Originally Posted by naturelover  hi i am in the house with my 93 year old father in law a kip in the lounge,my husband is on night duty tonight and tomorrow night boo hoo.
i have a glass of scotch and i am drinking to all my mates on wab,MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE,but i also have a question for you,do rooks kill birds ?the reason i am asking this is there are two giant ash trees three gardens away from me where the rooks nest,thing is they dont ever seem to move on,if they do they come back nexed morning,they seem to swoop above my cockatiels avery and they all go mad thinking they are birds of prey,i now find they are spooking the wild birds as well,yesterday i was watching a good 8 birds on the bird feeding station all stuffing,then all at once they all took off togeather,the rooks had decided to go for a fly above their heads,i know there is nothing i can do to stop it,anyway they have a life too just wish they would live it somewhere else. |
Ah naturelover - I'm raising my glass of alcohol free in salute! I wish you a quiet peaceful evening with dad in law...............
The rooks are possibly a bit short of food and are hoping to nick some from your aviary or feeding areas. I doubt they will set out to kill another bird as in hunting like birds of prey do - but most birds will attack a smaller bird if they get the chance - which is why birds as a rule are jumpy around each other. They keep a close eye on squirrels and rats too for the same reason. Tho these things don't hunt in the true sense of hunting - they will exploit an opportunity - or at the very least give some other creature a pasting if its careless enough to get too close. A while ago I was watching the pheasants grubbing around the base of our big bird table (the blackbird when it lands above always thrusts food out of the way as if searching for a particularly special one peice of sunflower seed!) so the pheasants are constantly being showered below with flicked off food. On this particular occassion a grey squirrel was getting closer and closer on the floor (table is squirrel proof) trying to pinch some of the sunflower - one of the male pheasants decided he wasn't sharing any - he let the squirrel get within pecking range and then suddenly without warning pecked it hard right in the middle of its head. The poor squirrel left the floor with all four feet and a squeal and disa ppeared for a bit to nurse what was probably quite a large and getting larger lump on his head.............
Pauline