a murder of crows

[curly_kate]

Anyone see this on Pbs? So fascinating! It gave me a lot more respect for crows.

 

[canesisters]

I LOVE my crows. There is a 'murder' that hangs around my farm. I'm even looking into ways to encourage them to hang closer since they harass the hawks who threaten my hens. There is also a group that hangs around my scale house at work. I toss things out to keep them close because I just love to watch them.

I saw that last year. Wonderful program.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

keep a lot of cracked corn around. i've heard that attracts them. i loved having woods behind my other house. if they were close to my coop and my hens would hear the crows and blue jays sounding an alarm when a hawk came too close, my girls would start screaming and run for the coop door for cover.

 

[thistlebloom]

I like crows too. We had a pet crow for a year when the kids were young.

The boys and I were at a garage sale and there was a young crow hopping around, pulling things out of boxes and untying peoples shoes. We were fascinated by his antics and I asked the couple if they'd raised him. No, they said they hadn't seen him before and they were worried that their cats were going to attack him, so since we liked him so much how 'bout we take him home?

We did just that and he became something of a neighborhood sensation. He flew around and visited folks but he always came home when he heard us calling him. When we worked in the garden pulling weeds, he would go down the row and if you wiggled a weed he'd pull it out for you!

Of course I had to cover my corn seeds with cheesecloth that year to keep him out of the sprouts.

Our youngest son, who was probably 5 or 6 then, had this crazy maniacal laugh he would do when out swinging on the tire swing, and Luther imitated it perfectly.

One day he didn't come home. I like to think he met his mate and they took up housekeeping on their own, but we sure did miss that rascal.

 

[curly_kate]

There were 2 in the yard the other day, eating leftovers pumpkins. I loved watching them.

 

[secuono]

I think I've seen it before. If you have chickens, you want crows hanging around to chase off the hawks.

 

[digitS']

I have seen the show.

Yeah, smart! But, I think ravens may be smarter. They play and seem to do so in a very self conscious way.

I enjoy the magpies but have neighbors who do not. I've blamed garden damage on them, however. Even the black birds seem a sukoshi smarter than your average bear . . . uh, bird!

Steve

 

[curly_kate]

Huh. I always thought crows & ravens were different names for the same animal. What's the difference?

 

[thistlebloom]

Ravens are larger and have coarser heads. They are also more solitary and don't flock together like crows.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

size is the biggest factor, but i know they also have a different sound they make. crows make a 'caw' and ravens have learned to make some imitations of other birds, animals and can even sound like they are saying words. we mostly have crows here in America and they are smaller than ravens. crows live near people and can tolerate noisy areas, while ravens live in wooded or quiet areas


in London there's a legend says that the kingdom and the Tower will fall if the six resident ravens ever leave the fortress. so they keep at least 6 ravens with clipped wings so they won't fly away.