It is that time of year again, and the baby crows keep coming! In most cases, crows should be left to fend for themselves, particularily if they are fledgelings.  Before you attempt to rescue a baby bird, consider the following: [list] Is it badly injured or in danger? Are there other crows nearby? Is it a fledgeling or a nestling? [/list] Fledgeling or Nestling? Like many species, juvenile corvids will typically leave the nest before they...

Read More

According to popular media, so-called scientists in the U.K. plan to execute a cull of thousands of corvids in a bid to save songbird populations.  Many of us in the community, which include scientists, rehabilitators and amateurs alike, are wondering when these scientists forgot that crows, magpies and jackdaws are songbirds too. The ‘dramatic decline in farm and woodland birds in the last 50 years’ has been tenuously linked with...

Read More

In case you missed something, here is what went on in October. Be sure to check out our Facebook page for exclusive links and anecdotes, and to get involved in the conversation! Want to receive our monthly digest in your inbox? Sign up for our newsletter over there on the right-> Film Noir – Creepy Corvid Movies If it is raining and gloomy where you are, then it is time to snuggle up in your favorite blanket, make some popcorn, and watch a...

Read More

It is  the time when the crows begin to form small roosting groups in the evening. Observers may note flights of crows all heading in one direction in late afternoon/evening or gathering in a group in the treetops. These gatherings are generally much smaller that the large winter communal roosts and we presume they serve as a sort of training ground for the sort of social interactions that occur later on when hundreds or thousands of crows...

Read More

Crows roost in large, sometimes huge murders (a flock is called a murder) at night. A hundred years ago one could find these roosts just outside villages and towns, and it was thought they did this for safety from dogs, cats and owls that like to nest in human built structures. Now, however, these roosts are most often located inside the city limits and it’s thought for the same reasons as they roosted outside the city before. Crows Choose...

Read More

Mobbing behavior by crows and others in the avian family is very common. The crows are reacting to the potential threat another lifeform or (until they quickly figure it out) an object poses as a predator to the adult crows and their offspring. The mobbing often serves to harass the threat into leaving the area. Occasionally, though, a mobbed hawk or owl will turn the tables and attack and kill the crow. The following video is a chilling example...

Read More

Not a Corvid! Last month we brought you a delightful and silly un-corvid, the Willy Wagtail. This month is a much more sinister subject – the Giant Cowbird (Molothrus oryzivorus). The Cowbird one of the few entirely black birds found in Central and South America. It is a quiet bird, particularly for an icterid, but the male has an unpleasant screeched whistle, shweeaa-tpic-tpic. The call is a sharp chek-chik.  Like corvids, they are...

Read More

It reached a seasonal high of 37 today in Croatia (that is about 99F) and was not much cooler in the shade.  There has not been a single caw past 10am until this moment as the sun heads down. For anyone who has wondered what crows do in the heat, the answer is chill out in the coolest tree they can find, and sometimes on a newly wet garden.  Crows also pant by holding their beak slightly open, and will raise up their wings to let their armpits...

Read More