Those crows are some smart birds!

[Mikej]

They know where the toilet is!

TriMet's latest weapon in war against crow poop: more birds

I must have different crows up in my NE hood though. We have a sharp shined hawk or two that come through my bird feeders from time to time. Just the other day a murder, like 20, were coming from all over and landing on a wire a half block away. I went to see what was up. On the ground by the side of the gravel road was the hawk. He/she was all hunched over with his wings splayed. He'd got one of our scrub jays. The crows were going mad! Every few seconds one would swoop down to intimidate the hawk. Pretty cool to watch. Finally the hawk took off low with the crows following, 'till he flew through the tall trees.

I'm not sure the crows are going to care all that much about a hawk. Where will the hawk be? Like the man said the hawk won't hurt the crows. We also see a red tail now and again up here in the Cully Neighborhood. The crows harass the heck out of them, and they eventually go away is all.

So fitting to see all that white bird poop on everything down there. Just think what it would look like if human waste was equally noticeable?

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[Member 34319]

My favorite bird to shoot at!

Where legal of coarse.

Hit one, not kill, it will start screaming like a madman. Then all it's friends show up to see what the screaming is about.

Target rich environment, check.

 

[Mister Bisley]

Crows are extremely intelligent, as are Corvids in general. I've wondered if they know they are related to Jays and try to harass the Sharpie in retaliation for the death of their "cousin".

Corvidae

The crows, jays, and allies are intelligent and crafty birds. They are opportunistic, and most thrive living among humans. For this reason, many have been persecuted as pests. Many members of this family cache, or store, food for the winter, which allows them to be year-round residents at high altitudes and in northern climates. Many live in forests, and most nest in trees. Crows, ravens, magpies, and jays are generally long-lived and monogamous, and form long-term pair bonds. Some species have helpers at the nest. Their nests are typically bulky and made from sticks, and both sexes generally help build them. Females incubate the young, but there are exceptions where the male helps. Both sexes usually feed and care for the young. The corvids are omnivores, eating seeds, nuts, insects, carrion, and small vertebrates. They often rob the nests of other birds of eggs and nestlings. Most are social, forming flocks, especially outside the breeding season.

I've hunted crow before, they taste pretty good, especially BBQ'd.

 

[Mikej]

My favorite bird to shoot at!

Where legal of coarse.

Hit one, not kill, it will start screaming like a madman. Then all it's friends show up to see what the screaming is about.

Target rich environment, check.

Actually, I've come to dig crows. Their intelligence rivals a good number of the people in Portland. Maybe I'm becoming anti social? We have a pair around the house. They nested in a tree across the street this spring. Their nest failed. During nesting they all have close, somewhat overlapping, territories. "Mac" would come down and sit on the canopy of the truck waiting for peanuts. Maxine always kept her distance. Sometime after the young had fledged territories didn't matter so much. Now they all get along. Don't know what to do with that turkey carcass? Break it in half and watch the crows eat every piece of meat from it. One downfall, the poop. I need to pull the hose out and rinse the neighbors car off sometimes.

 

[Mikej]

I've hunted crow before, they taste pretty good, especially BBQ'd.

Let it be known....If I had stock, or food producing crops that were being ravaged by crows I would kill every one I could!

 

[Member 34319]

You live in Portland, I don't blame ya for being anti social.

Hell I'd befriend birds over some of the people down that way too.

 

[Mikej]

Mmm hmm.

 

[CoastRange57]

Very smart bird the crow and its long life span gives it the best institutional memory there is. They are very hard on upland bird nests and duck nests. They will destroy every one they find. I had been letting my fields grow up to provide habitat for trying to help the pheasant and quail populations rebound some what. The crows would find the nest, peck the eggs open and leave the shells.

Between them and the coyotes they have decimated the upland bird populations.

 

[JuglansRegia]

They are smart to a point, I remember watching some National Geographic like show, there was footage of a bald eagle feeding on some kind of carcass with a bunch of crows or ravens harassing it, one was pulling on the eagles tail feathers until the eagle stuck a foot back and caught the crow in his talons, it was dead pretty quick.

 

[DirectDrive]

They know where the toilet is!

TriMet's latest weapon in war against crow poop: more birds

I must have different crows up in my NE hood though. We have a sharp shined hawk or two that come through my bird feeders from time to time. Just the other day a murder, like 20, were coming from all over and landing on a wire a half block away. I went to see what was up. On the ground by the side of the gravel road was the hawk. He/she was all hunched over with his wings splayed. He'd got one of our scrub jays. The crows were going mad! Every few seconds one would swoop down to intimidate the hawk. Pretty cool to watch. Finally the hawk took off low with the crows following, 'till he flew through the tall trees.

I'm not sure the crows are going to care all that much about a hawk. Where will the hawk be? Like the man said the hawk won't hurt the crows. We also see a red tail now and again up here in the Cully Neighborhood. The crows harass the heck out of them, and they eventually go away is all.

So fitting to see all that white bird poop on everything down there. Just think what it would look like if human waste was equally noticeable?

It could have been a Cooper's Hawk. Identified by their long narrow tail.
They hunt the neighborhoods.
They're about 2/3 the size of a Red Tail.

Crows instinctively hate any bird of prey.
They will harass them at every opportunity.
I think it comes from what happens at night.
They crows are roosted up and the owls can have their way with them.

Crows, blue jays and squirrels are all on the same alert system.
They help each other with their warning calls when a bird of prey (or any threat) is in the area.
Apparently your jay didn't get the memo.

 

[Mikej]

It could have been a Cooper's Hawk. Identified by their long narrow tail.
They hunt the neighborhoods.
They're about 2/3 the size of a Red Tail.

Crows instinctively hate any bird of prey.
They will harass them at every opportunity.
I think it comes from what happens at night.
They crows are roosted up and the owls can have their way with them.

Crows, blue jays and squirrels are all on the same alert system.
They help each other with their warning calls when a bird of prey (or any threat) is in the area.
Apparently your jay didn't get the memo.

You tell me.



I'm pretty sure I determined it to be a sharp Shined. Don't recall now how that was.

 

[HB of CJ]

EVERY TIME I leave the front door, a solitary crow starts cawing. Is it a spotter bird? I am sure they know I'm the easy guy with all the shelled roasted but non salted peanuts. Yumm yumm.

 

[Mister Bisley]

Looks like an adult female Cooper's Hawk to me. Legs are pretty thick. Eye is closer to the beak than the nape(neck). Black cap on top of head. There is a lot of similarities in the way that Cooper's and Sharp-shinned hawks look.

 

[Mikej]

Looks like an adult female Cooper's Hawk to me. Legs are pretty thick. Eye is closer to the beak than the nape(neck). Black cap on top of head. There is a lot of similarities in the way that Cooper's and Sharp-shinned hawks look.

I was thinking we identified it but the leg feathers, or lack thereof.

 

[Mikej]

The one in my pic is a dead ringer for the pic in my Audubon book of a sharp shin.

 

[Flymph]

Crows have superior facial recognition, and the ability to remember a face years after having seen it.
They're cleaners, they'll clean anything in their reach, sometimes that means other birds.

 

[Mister Bisley]

I sent your pic over to my Uncle

The one in my pic is a dead ringer for the pic in my Audubon book of a sharp shin.

It's definitely a tough ID. I'm leaning toward Cooper's, but the bird is showing characteristics of both species in your photo...which is superb BTW. Any other pics? Maybe of the tail? I sent your pic over to my uncle, who studied Ornithology in college to see what he thinks.

 

[DirectDrive]

EVERY TIME I leave the front door, a solitary crow starts cawing. Is it a spotter bird? I am sure they know I'm the easy guy with all the shelled roasted but non salted peanuts. Yumm yumm.

He wants a peanut and he knows you have them.

 

[Mikej]

I sent your pic over to my Uncle

It's definitely a tough ID. I'm leaning toward Cooper's, but the bird is showing characteristics of both species in your photo...which is superb BTW. Any other pics? Maybe of the tail? I sent your pic over to my uncle, who studied Ornithology in college to see what he thinks.

I have some others, somewhere, in the computer. I looked

 

[Caveman Jim]

Very smart bird the crow and its long life span gives it the best institutional memory there is. They are very hard on upland bird nests and duck nests. They will destroy every one they find. I had been letting my fields grow up to provide habitat for trying to help the pheasant and quail populations rebound some what. The crows would find the nest, peck the eggs open and leave the shells.

Between them and the coyotes they have decimated the upland bird populations.

I'd help you rid the place of crows if they are ibdeed a nuisance.