Browsed by
Tag: Crows

Walnut Stories: Part 2

Walnut Stories: Part 2

American Crow

American Crow Visitor

The year 2020 continues to deliver difficult challenges. For those of us on the West Coast, we’re dealing with fires and smoke, either directly or indirectly. I hope the continuation of this story will bring a moment of joy for you during these times.

See Walnut Stories: Part 1 for the first portion of this story.

On the third day of my experiment, a single crow was waiting on the gutter, just below my window. They are getting bolder. I told it to retreat to the roof of the nearby building. Interestingly, it obliged and I tossed the walnut piece onto the graveled roof. The crow ate part of the walnut, then flew to a nearby tree to finish the treat. It then returned to the roof and sat on a fat pipe for a while before begging again at the gutter below my window. However, I’m limiting the crows to one walnut a day. No need to get spoiled here.

Fast forward several weeks and this pattern continued. I have watched with interest their behavior towards each other. The smaller one is the more cunning of the pair. It started to come by on its own in the morning, cawing at my window. After getting a walnut piece, it would either eat it immediately or stash it. Later, it would come by with its friend. I would throw them each a walnut, so now the little guy gets two pieces! This went on for a few days.

Then the little guy started a new behavior. It would show up with its friend and beg at the gutter. When I opened the window, the larger friend would fly to the roof, but the small one would stay at the window watching me. I would toss out two walnut pieces, one at a time. The little guy would quickly collect the first walnut, watch me intently, and then dart after the second piece. The little crow nabbed both pieces and left its friend with none! That cunning, small crow was figuring out ways to get more goodies. I wised up to this behavior and can now manage to throw both pieces at the same time onto the roof of the nearby building.

It’s been fascinating watching the crows interact and scam each other for food. Their intelligence and strategies around getting a piece of walnut is really fun to observe. Next time you see a crow in the neighborhood, watch it for a while and see if you can find anything unique!

Walnut Stories: Part 1

Walnut Stories: Part 1

American Crow

American Crow Visitor

I have a bag of walnuts. I don’t particularly like walnuts, but I got them from our CSA (community-supported agriculture). I remember reading that crows liked walnuts, and there an idea was hatched.

I live in an apartment building tucked between commercial businesses. From my window, I can see the top of a medical building, which sports a maze of pipes, gravel, and a constant water drip from a cooling unit. It’s the perfect playground for crows. Last summer I watched a pair and their young play in the water drip and use it to wet crusty bread. This summer, a large and small crow came to play in the pipe maze. I decided to see if the crows would take a liking to locally grown and organic walnuts.

On the first morning of my experiment, the two crows were on the roof of the medical building cawing, unaware of my peering at them. I tossed open my window, which startled the smaller one. The larger one seemed to look at me inquisitively. I tossed one walnut piece onto the roof, which cemented the fear in the smaller crow and immediately flew away. The larger one, however, ran up to the walnut, grabbed it, and proceeded to parade around the roof with the walnut in its mouth until I lost track of it.

I threw another piece to the smaller crow. It eyed the walnut suspiciously for a few moments before deciding it was safe. The crow cautiously slinked towards the walnut, nabbed it, and immediately flew to another spot on the roof to gulp it down. So far, success!

The next morning, the smaller crow was on the roof by itself. I opened up the window, which did not seem to startle it this time. Instead, it watched me with curious eyes. I threw a walnut piece, and the crow grabbed it, shoved it between its toes, and picked at it for a while.

After a few nibbles, it walked around with the remainder of the walnut in its beak. Then, to my surprise, it stood in front of a brick that was holding up pipes, and the crow placed the walnut remains into a crevice. It then grabbed a few gravel pieces, covered up the walnut, and flew away. It stashed it for later use!

Check back soon for a continuation of this story!

Morning Routine

Morning Routine

Anna's Hummingbird

Anna’s Hummingbird, one of many birds I hear in the mornings

Groggy and disoriented, I pulled myself out of bed. What day is it? Do I work today? Did I oversleep? Quarantine-brain is in full force, causing the days to blend together. Bleary-eyed, I wandered into the kitchen to grab my breakfast and watch the birds. I heard a squabble at the bird feeder just outside the window. The feeder was nearly out of the much-desired sunflower seeds causing fierce territory wars. I threw open the window, which would normally scatter all the birds, but one brave Lesser Goldfinch remained behind. She watched me grab the feeder and patiently waited for the refill.

Once the feeder was back in place, the delicate female goldfinch plopped herself onto the plate and hogged down for a solid six minutes with no interruptions from other birds. I watched as she grabbed a seed and meticulously chewed it down, all while darting her gaze looking out for danger. Her bill was plastered with chunks of seeds – I wanted to offer her a napkin. Grabbing a bit of my bagel, I moved just enough to spook her, thus ending the buffet.

The rest of the morning was spent listening to the leftovers of the morning chorus. I watched a pair of crows tend to their nest. A pair of Dark-eyed Juncos picked through dropped seeds in the gutter below. Pigeons were flapping against a brilliant blue sky. Shelter-in-place has been challenging for us humans. But sitting at the window watching the birds helps to let go of worries for just a little while.

Hanging Out With The Crows

Hanging Out With The Crows

Young crows are vocal, shiny black balls. They follow their parents around while belching out a dry “caw” sound. When a parent gives it food (by cramming its beak down the young crow’s throat), the young crow gives off a call that sounds like what I imagine a dying cat would sound like.

I’ve had coworkers come to me alarmed by this call. I reassure them that the crow is fine, it’s just eating.

A family of crows is intent on feeding on top of the medical building that I can view from my apartment window. Every so often throughout the day, the dying call wails from the young crow as it’s being fed.

I finally carved out some time to watch the feeding in action. I can easily identify the one young crow by its constant calls to be fed, as well as the very red, fleshy mouth it displays while holding its beak open waiting for sustenance.

I watched as a parent unsuccessfully pecked at a very stale piece of bread. I imagined it gave up on the bread when it meandered over to dripping water coming from an air conditioning pipe. I chuckled as it used the meager drops to wet its feathers. But wait, it wasn’t only getting a bath – it put the stale bread into the little puddle that the droplets were forming! That didn’t seem to be working too well, so it shoved the bread into the pipe where the water was running. Success! Moistened bread for the win! Crows are truly geniuses.