crow that can't fly

[hmcd]

I have a crow in my garden that can't fly. It can flutter up and can get into the trees step by step. I have been leaving out bits of dog food for it which it has now come to expect. However when it has eaten one piece I have observed it hiding little pieces in various locations round the garden ie stuffing bits between paving slabs, covering bits with leaves. and putting under overhanging plants. Is this normal?

[accipter]

In a word yes I keep a c crow and a rook and a jackdaw as a boy all tree did this.

[Deb London]

Yes, I agree, this is normal.

I've seen crows being fed whole loaves of bread, crumbled up, from a restaurant. They are amusing birds to watch. Several seem to fight over just one piece of bread that one of them has, whilst the rest of the loaf sits there on the grass. The winner then hops away to bury its winnings under some dry grass or in a hole somewhere. I know they are intelligent so this raises several questions like why doesn't the cleverest crow just walk over to the untouched bread and take as much as it wants whilst the others are squabbling amongst themselves? And if it's a game of one-one-upmanship, why doesn't one smart alec watch where the bread is hidden then walk over and retrieve it just to wind the other up?

[accipter]

I don't no about that Deb but I did read once that while the flock feeds out in the field one sets on sentry duty close by in the top of a tree or post and warn them of anything that may be about, if he or she fails to do so the others will give this bird a good hiding I don't know if this is true or not but the next time you see rooks feeding out in a field have a look for the one on duty they are always there.

[RKB]

This is called food-caching and all the crows do it when they have an excess of food. Think of Jays burying acorns - it's the same thing. Nuthaches, Coal Tits, Willow Tits and others also do it.

Some individuals do occasionally watch the hoarder and rob the cache, which is known as kelptoparasitism.

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by RKB

Some individuals do occasionally watch the hoarder and rob the cache, which is known as kelptoparasitism.

Hey - my youngest daughter used to do that with any chocolate we put away!
If she couldn't find any, she used to mix cocoa powder with sugar and eat it.

Jim

[Picidae]

Originally Posted by hmcd

I have a crow in my garden that can't fly. It can flutter up and can get into the trees step by step.

What reason is it unable to fly? Is it injured?

Crows do flutter and hop from branch to branch rather than fly if they are in small areas/dense vegetation simply because of their size - Also on the ground as with many other birds they hop (unlike Ravens which like to walk!). It's not so noticeable with smaller birds since they can take very short flights along the ground and between ground and shrubs and from branch to branch etc - the larger the bird the longer the runway needed and the more energy required to take off, so more hopping and 'fluttering' - perhaps you're seeing normal foraging and caching manoeuvres?