A very clever crow
One of the readers of this blog recently made a comment on a previous article about clever crows. Here is what he said:
We watched a crow today land on our mailbox (faux wooden stump) and pull out a letter from amongst a pile and fly off with it. The envelope was white with a stamp and a yellow address change sticker but nothing out of the ordinary.
The crow flew next door holding the envelope and then flew to the telephone pole where it started to attempt to “open it?†rip it. It lost it’s grip and the letter fell to the ground.
Turns out it was junk mail anyway!
I wonder if we can train these birds to remove only the junk mail from our letter boxes? There could be quite a niche market for these specially trained junk interceptors.
I have written before about how clever and cunning crows and ravens can be (see the links below). The Little Ravens around our home are still trying to steal the rubber from the wiper blades on our cars. They do it when we are not looking. It is really annoying because the rubber strips are really hard to slide back into position. On several occasions they have actually taken the rubber away – presumably for nesting material. Replacing the blades is not a cheap exercise.
Related articles:
- Clever crows – some examples of the cleverness of crows.
- Something to crow about – an article about Tokyo crows with a liking for the internet.
- Ravens and windows – our resident ravens have an annoying habit.
- Thieving birds – more about those pesky ravens and their thieving ways.
- Corvids – an extract from my glossary of words about birds.
Bird Word: Corvids
- Corvids: birds that belong to the crow or raven family of birds
Crows and ravens, members of the corvid family of birds, are a common species in much of the world. In fact, this family of birds is found throughout the world except the polar caps and the very tip of South America. According to the Wikipedia article this family also includes rook, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies and nutcrackers. It claims that there are over 120 different species of corvids in total.
In Australia the members of this family include:
- Australian Raven
- Little Raven
- Little Crow
- Forest Raven
- Torresian Crow
Little Raven
Related Articles:
- Thieving birds – our resident ravens are caught stealing something very unusual.
- Ravens v Choughs – fights between the White Winged Choughs and the Little Ravens in our garden.
- Clever Crows – the may be cunning, they may be annoying, but they really are clever.
- Something to crow about – more about clever crows
- Glossary of bird words – more words about birds explained.
Thieving Birds
A few days ago we had just pulled out of the driveway on our way to Adelaide when I realised that the windscreen was rather dirty. I activated the wipers and the resultant screeching brought me to a quick halt. My wife alighted and she discovered that the left hand wiper blade was missing!
On my return home I went to the spot where the car had been parked. Sure enough, there on the ground was the missing blade. The Little Ravens had been fussing around on the mirror adjacent the wiper for several days. They are my chief suspects at this point, but I have no conclusive evidence.
Over recent months I have observed the following species fussing around the cars, and the mirror in particular: Little Ravens, Australian Magpies, Grey Shrike-Thrush, Willie Wagtail, Magpie Lark and Red Wattlebird. All are suspects, but my money would be on the ravens.
How the bird in question got the rubber wiper blade out beats me. It was hard enough getting it on in the first place. (I replaced both blades a few months ago.)
And why didn’t the bird in question at least have the decency to use the blade in its nest?
UPDATE:
I posted this article this morning. I hadn’t used said vehicle for several days. Guess what? The blighters have done it again! Same wiper blade completely removed and left on the ground. The other wiper blade was part way out!
Related Articles:
Ravens v Choughs
White Winged Chough
In my last post I wrote about the Little Ravens feeding their recently fledged young in our garden. A few hours later I heard a great commotion coming from the mallee scrub near our house. A family of White Winged Choughs was on their regular patrol through our property. The ravens objected to the noisy neighbours coming to visit. Perhaps the ravens didn’t like anyone getting too close to their young.
Protection of young cuts both ways it seems. On investigating the noise I discovered that the Choughs were protecting a number of newly fledged young as well. These were quite small and only just able to fly.
White Winged Choughs
No wonder there was conflict. No wonder they were upset with each other. And it all goes to show that spring is really here in South Australia with the frenzy of breeding all around.
Related articles:
Ravens and windows
4 Comments »6th July, 2006; Category: Ravens and Crows
Little Raven
We always have a few Little Ravens in and around the garden. In recent days they have been very noisy, especially when they perch on the roof guttering just above the office window. Then it is hard to concentrate on my writing.
Mid-morning yesterday I was attracted to a different noise made by one of our local ravens. One of them was attacking the window of our bedroom, pecking at the glass and banging its wings violently at the perceived interloper it could see. It was attacking its own reflection. This happens from time to time when an individual is attracted to its own reflection in a window.
Normally we just chase off the confused bird. In the summer months it can be very annoying when they start attacking the glass reflection at first light at 5:30am. Not a pleasant wake up call!