Young Robin - taken 2009 in back garden - Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow, Ireland

WEEKLY TWEET

When was the last time you actually watched wildlife in your back garden?

Today? Last week? Can't remember? In today's modern world, we are finding it increasingly difficult to relax and take time out from work or family. This blog is to remind you all of the free entertainment that we can enjoy each and every day - WILDLIFE!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Corvids are Cool!

Today is a definite duvet day, given the terrible weather outside!

So I thought I would use this as an excuse to post about my favourite family of birds - the Corvids. Although I love all birds, there is something extra appealing about corvids, they have a character about them that makes me smile every time I watch them!



When it's blowing a gale outside, the Rooks & Jackdaws near our house all seem to 'play' in the sky & have way too much fun! I love the way the Rooks in town strut their stuff and don't move out of the way - they even look at you as though to say "go on then, I dare you!"

Whilst I go on about their cheeky character, I also admire their cleverness - scientists have run series of tests which demonstrate sequential tool-use, and then there's the Crows in Japan that drop nuts from a height onto the road and wait for the traffic to break open the shells, they've even learnt to do this on pedestrian crossings so when the lights change it's safe for them to retrieve the food!

I always have to go back to their cheeky side though, and the link below from You Tube shows an advert which has their character down to a tee........ something to make you smile on a dull, wet day ;-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqKS-hkhhh4

7 comments:

ShySongbird said...

A nice cheerful post to cheer up a miserable day Sharon. I love the photos especially the Jay which I have never seen in my garden. Yes, the Corvids are very intelligent and I have just watched the video, (twice) it was hilarious and as you say 'has them down to a tee'!

Sharon said...

Thanks for your comment, ShySongbird - glad you liked the video!

Chris said...

Hi Sharon,
This is a nice dedicated message to a beautiful group of bird.. The jay is my favorite, I never managed to get a nice picture of it!! Well done...

tony said...

we have the hooded crow here in Egypt. its a great rat catcher the ones born in the date tree off my balcony catches a rat every day and comes back to the tree to devour it.it has a unique way to kill the rat by wedging it in the frons of the palm and stabbing it with its beak.
problem is if it does not catch a rat it takes one of the other birds such as the call dove.
so what I say is nature is nature and we can not interfere, photos on the wildlife blog

Jenny said...

Hi Sharon, funny we should both feature corvids at the same time! (-: They really are fun to watch and I love the sound of Jackdaws.

Sharon said...

Thanks Chris - we had a family of Jays visiting in the summer so had plenty of opportunity for photos.
Tony - I agree totally, nature is nature. How lucky you are to see that so close up!
Jenny - Thanks for your comment, it's funny yours was the 3rd blog I saw today featuring corvids - thats spooky!!

Pete Woodruff said...

Every species has its own qualities Sharon and glad to hear of your appreciation of the 'corvids'. I watched a Carrion Crow give chase to a female Merlin this afternoon and made a good job of it too as it kept quite close to the Merlin for for a period but of course the Crow was eventually left behind.

Good to see your 'Flag Counter' up and running.

Kind Regards and thanks for looking in on Birds2blog from time to time.