Crow behaviour

[Mark43]

We have about 4 crows that frequent a large tree about 50 yards behind our house.
They occasionally pop down for water and a rummage in the garden but more often they stay away.

On Saturday morning we heard a commotion in next door but one's garden and went out to see a Crow pinning down a Chaffinch and savagely pecking at its head.

Obviously the Chaffinch died and this same Crow flew over the house to the front square and proceeded to tear apart this bird and eat it.

The Crow then returned to the same garden where it sat up on a Pergola and mobbed any other bird that entered the garden.This went on for about an hour or so.

Is it usual for a Crow to take live birds...........i didn't think so hence the name Carrion Crow.

I wasn't aware of any young Crows about either which might have merited the behaviour.

[Jonny]

Could be that the crows are going to nest there, but I would of thought that they would of tolerated the small birds.
We had a couple of buzzards turn up prospecting at WNR and they started attacking the herons that were already nesting there. It all goes on at this time of year................Jon

[cherrybee]

Two days ago I witnessed a crow who nests in a tree a few doors down from me flying at a seagull and almost catching its tail.Unfortunately the photos I took were to far up and no good but it happened again later in the day when he tried to attack a group of gulls that landed in next doors garden nearly catching one.Of course I didnt have the camera to hand as I could have got a good photo.He then sits on my ariel and proceeds to fly at another gull who moved to the next rooftop and the crow again chased him off.It was quite amusing to watch

[nightshade]

Corvids eat meat ,baby birds and roadkill, if they have young they may be desperate for protein.Do you feed them? I have tits nesting and feed magpies and other corvids seperately away from the bird feeder stations and nestboxes

[nicole]

Iv seen something very similar to this Mark, about a year ago at work I saw something fly down and pin down a wood-piegion, I naturally assumed it was a sparrowhawk. I went outside to have a closer look and was shocked to discover it was a crow, which was pecking at the birds head in the same way you have described with the chaffinch.

Is this normal? I must admit it was the first time I had ever seen such behaviour although I have read things about groups of crows bringing down animals such as hares, I recall reading that they peck at the animals eyes (nice!)

[Wild-Woman]

Hence a 'murder of crows' as the collective noun suggests. ww

[Alan]

Not sure as this counts as 'natural' behaviour, but hear goes:

About 15 years ago, when my niece was a baby, she was outside in the back garden asleep in her pram, when all of a sudden she let out such an awful screem for such a small baby. We all jumped up and looked out the window to see with horror a large Crow sat on the edge of the pram pecking at her toes. Luckily the pram hood was up to sheild her from the sun, otherwise it might have been her eyes! The Crow flew off suddenly with us banging on the window and rushing outside. Never the less baby's toes were bleeding a little and it took quite some time for my sister to calm her down.

It turned out this particular Crow had been hand reared by someone down the road, and was now allowed to come and go as it liked. So the Crow was used to/unafraid of people, and yet it was a wild creature - sometimes not the best of combinations.

The Crow continued to hang around the neighbourhood and generally harrass people, and got a reputation for attacking kids.

Still with the thought of what, and might have happened to my niece (I wasn't very pleased), I'm afraid I eventually tempted the Crow down with some bread, captured it and wrung it's neck. It ended up in my freezer as Ferret food.

In reality it was not the Crows fault - it probably saw the wriggling toes as prey so to speak, but the person who reared it and let it do as it liked, but I don't regret what I did in the least.

[nicole]

Its really concerning when wild animals show no fear of humans and I agree with you Alan, its a sad thing, but the animal was dangerous and needed to be destroyed.

[Alan]

Originally Posted by nicole

Its really concerning when wild animals show no fear of humans and I agree with you Alan, its a sad thing, but the animal was dangerous and needed to be destroyed.

And the owners want sorting out too!

[nicole]

Originally Posted by Alan

And the owners want sorting out too!

Your right, theres so many people out there who don’t deserve to have animals, it really does get me mad

[RobF]

Most of the corvids are capable of killing other birds, I've seen Jackdaws take young sparrows. The lapwing near us have chicks at the moment and the crows are really hammering them, ignoring the mobbing parents.

We're also well into lambing, and as any farmer will tell you, as soon as a sheep is on its back or struggling with a lamb, the crows will come down and peck their eyes out, and then start on the tongue. Not pleasant.

Rob

[nightshade]

All the crows,magpies etc eat nestlings, I have watched them for years and admire their intelligence (they are among my favourite birds) the panache they display in their flying the collective assistence/individuality makes them a top predator

[Jonny]

I was once working for someone who had a magpie trap in their garden, think it was called a larson or something like that. It had a live magpie in one side which attracted others into it and trapping them. I went and had a look at it and the bird in it looked up at me and I could see inteligence there. As I turned to walk away there was a tap tap on the trap, I turned round and the bird was still looking at me, so I turned again and then tap tap again. The bird was tapping its beak on the side of the trap, trying to tell me something, let me out I suppose.
My customer caught about 30 magpies in the trap and shot them all, but the live bird used as bait he released, which I thought was nice of him..............Jon

[cherrybee]

Originally Posted by Jonny

I was once working for someone who had a magpie trap in their garden, think it was called a larson or something like that. It had a live magpie in one side which attracted others into it and trapping them. I went and had a look at it and the bird in it looked up at me and I could see inteligence there. As I turned to walk away there was a tap tap on the trap, I turned round and the bird was still looking at me, so I turned again and then tap tap again. The bird was tapping its beak on the side of the trap, trying to tell me something, let me out I suppose.
My customer caught about 30 magpies in the trap and shot them all, but the live bird used as bait he released, which I thought was nice of him..............Jon

would have been nicer to let them all go and not capture them at all.Leave them to do what nature intended.Its the natural way

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Jonny

I was once working for someone who had a magpie trap in their garden, think it was called a larson or something like that. It had a live magpie in one side which attracted others into it and trapping them.

You find these on shooting estates most of the time. Game keepers usually set them up near to pheasant rearing areas. The trap door is spring loaded and propped open by a two piece perch. When the Magpie drops in and lands on the perch, it collapses and the door shuts. Some are used without the decoy magpie and bait is used instead. It's usually young birds or birds moving through the area that get caught. The older/resident birds are often just too crafty.

[Jonny]

Originally Posted by cherrybee

would have been nicer to let them all go and not capture them at all.Leave them to do what nature intended.Its the natural way

I agree with you, I would not trap them myself (unless I needed to eat them), But I do respect others feelings about them and would not interfere................Jon

[Jonny]

Originally Posted by Alan

You find these on shooting estates most of the time. Game keepers usually set them up near to pheasant rearing areas. The trap door is spring loaded and propped open by a two piece perch. When the Magpie drops in and lands on the perch, it collapses and the door shuts. Some are used without the decoy magpie and bait is used instead. It's usually young birds or birds moving through the area that get caught. The older/resident birds are often just too crafty.

Thats right, my customer had borrowed it from the local gamekeeper.............Jon

[nightshade]

30 magpies in one area! it would put a lot of pressure on local wild birds and other small animals,a while ago I had almost a dozen magpies young and old assemble on my house roof at dawn and the noise of them hopping around on the roof was as good as any alarm clock,but the local birds stayed away until the circus moved off