Crows and Bird Feeders

[Harold Smith]

I have two bird feeders in my garden that are frequented by all sorts of birds and in large numbers. One of the feeders is mounted on a 1.8m tall wooden pole with a cross piece as a perch. The feeder is also fitted with a wide circular tray at its base to catch the spill and for birds to perch on. The Collard Doves and Wood pigeons are able to stand on the tray though they find it quite cramped and fall of on occasions. Anyway, in the last year, the local crows have have managed to land on the cross piece though it only protrudes approximately 15cm from underneath the tray. It is the first time I have Crows feed from a bird feeder. Once they mastered the perch they became very adept at landing on it without falling despite their size. I know crows are intelligent and I thought good on them! However, this year they became a serious nuisance and took over the feeders. They appeared very organised and any other birds approaching the feeders were chased of immedaitely and persistant ones, particularly Blackbirds, attacked. The Wood Pigeons, Collard Doves, Green Finches and Sparrows bravely tried to feed with some success. However, a lot of the smaller birds disappeared. The other week I decided to remove the cross piece and the impact was amazing. Within 24 hours the crows had gone and back came the Great Tits, Blue Tits, Dunnocks, Goldfinches and to my surprise a Coal Tit with young.

I have always had Crows in my garden but they have normally stayed on the ground or brought in lumps of food, mainly bread, and dunked them in the bird bath or the pond, and no bother to all the other birds that visited. I do hope they come back as I do find them interesting and entertaining, but I do not think it is fair they be allowed to bully all the other birds.