Bird Brain?

Discussion in 'Pets & Critters' started by Tom Locke, Feb 8, 2016.

  1. Tom Locke

    Tom Locke Veteran Member
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    I remember seeing this several years ago on a BBC series called The Life of Birds. It's just one example of the inventive ways that crows in particular use to get food.

     
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  2. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    That reminds me of the birds at the home Depot, where they learned to trip the automatic doors, flew in and raided the bags of bird seed.;)
    Smart Birds Open Doors
     
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  3. Sheldon Scott

    Sheldon Scott Supreme Member
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    The crows have sentrys posted every spring to see when I start planting my garden. Corn, beans and peas have to be covered until they get several inches high.
     
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  4. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    The crows can 'stick' to their diet!;)
     
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  5. Tom Locke

    Tom Locke Veteran Member
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    The crows on the east coast of Scotland have a similar trick to the Japanese crows in the first video. They pick up mussels from the beach and then fly up and drop them onto the promenade or other concreted footpaths. Voila - one cracked mussel.
     
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  6. Krissttina Isobe

    Krissttina Isobe Veteran Member
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    The video gives another meaning to pedestrian crossing! What a smart little bird to devise a way to get their nuts cracked with safety eating times. Thanks for the entertaining and enlightening video. I enjoyed it a lot.
     
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  7. Tom Locke

    Tom Locke Veteran Member
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    Another crow works on his doctorate...

     
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  8. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    Joe The Crow

    One day, while we were talking about counting those who attend church, I asked “do we count the bird who finds its way in”? Bill told me the story of Joe the crow, who flew in the front door one Sunday and upset his Wife, Mary. He went on to tell how, about 25 years ago, he removed 4 baby crows from the nest. He and each of his two brothers kept one, and his Dad kept the remaining crow, who he named Joe. The idea was to keep the crow in a cage, feed and care for it, and over time it would become used to humans and be a pet. Well, Bill who was working each day, released his crow too soon, and it flew off, never to be seen again.

    His Dad had been spending quite a bit of time with his crow, and Joe had become domesticated. He told Bill to take Joe home and keep him. He fed Joe bread and milk with sugar in it. A special treat was old, stale raisin bread. Joe was “helpful”…he would sit right next to the cat, and “help” eat the cat’s food, and he would also “help” the neighbor empty her clothesline by pulling the pins off the line.

    Joe was attracted to shiny objects, and one day, while playing with his ring of keys around the crow, Bill made the mistake of throwing the keys too close to Joe, and he grabbed them in his beak and flew off. Bill, waving his arms and yelling, ran after Joe, who soon dropped his treasure. Bill never did that again.
    When Bill & Mary went to church, Joe was alone and seeking human company would fly over to the church. One Sunday, Joe flew in the front door to visit. We don’t know if he was “counted”, but he was “ushered” outside. Mary worried that he might try to fly in one of the windows. She knew our church was something to crow about….but this was going too far!

    Finally, the time came when Joe flew away, and Bill thought that was the end of Joe. But the next spring, Joe returned with the “Mrs.”, who being shy, remained in the woods. After three days of visiting and saying goodbye, Joe flew away with his mate and they never saw him again. Bill said that baby groundhogs, dug up and removed from the hole can be made into pets the same way. Why it can even work with a baby skunk…..if you feel up to the challenge! - 01/30/11
     
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  9. Tom Locke

    Tom Locke Veteran Member
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    I'm reminded of the time when my partner lived in Cork and came home one day to find a jackdaw lying outside, apparently dead. She picked it up and found that it was alive. It seems as if it probably flew into the window and stunned itself. She looked after it until it had recovered and after that, she had a constant stream of jackdaw visitors. It was as if the bird had told its friends that this was a good place to go, as long as you minded the windows.
     
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  10. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    I never heard of a jackdaw, Tom, had to look it up!;)

    [​IMG]
     
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  11. Tom Locke

    Tom Locke Veteran Member
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    Jackdaws are so common here that I was forgetting they are rarities in North America. A quick check reveals they have been spotted in Canada and the northeast of the US. They are small crows with a pleasingly metallic kyow or chak call and a jaunty way of walking.
     
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  12. Corie Henson

    Corie Henson Veteran Member
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    I had seen this thread many times but I always tried to evade. But now I guess I have to post my comment.

    We had a mysterious pigeon some years ago. She came unannounced and lived with us for 5 years before leaving us unannounced. On that day she knocked on our doorway, we tried to catch her and she easily relented. Maybe she was hungry so we gave her rice. From that time, she stayed in the garage until one day she had a chance to enter our house and she declared to stay indoors. That pigeon seems to have a mind of its own, I mean it's like she understands us. It's a long story that is related to the death of our first dog. And it makes me sad so I guess I need not elaborate for now.
     
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  13. Tom Locke

    Tom Locke Veteran Member
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    Herons and egrets have a few tricks as well. A green heron goes fishing:

     
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  14. Will Lawrence

    Will Lawrence Veteran Member
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    Our family's "Bird" story....

    BB guns… Good ol’ lever action, Red Ryder, BB guns. Daisy Corporation made a fortune selling them. And, the primary use of BB guns on a farm was riddance of pests… pests like sparrows.

    Those pesky sparrows… They built nests in the barn and pooped on everything below the nest. They built nests in the chicken house and their poop would run down the walls. Sparrows… stupid, pesky sparrows. BB guns, evidently, were invented to assist in the riddance of sparrows from the farms. But, no matter how many we shot, the numbers still seemed to grow. Hummm, “… his eye is on the sparrow…”???? Could there be anything to that short phrase taken from scripture?

    Late one afternoon, our daughter (14 years old at the time) was in the backyard. She happened upon a “goober” baby bird that had fallen from a nest. No feathers… size of a quarter… ugly orange beak looked completely out of proportion to the rest of the bird’s body. Dragging it into the house, I told her to toss it in the trash. Those baby birds that fall from nests won’t live. Toss it away! Go wash your hands! Yuck!

    The daughter declared she would keep it in a topping container overnight… and pray that it would live. (You have to understand this daughter and the word “declare”, but that’s an entire story of its own.) If her prayers were answered, she’d decide what to do. If the bird died, overnight, she’d give it a “proper” burial in the morning. She made an attempt to feed the bird a bit of milk and bread with a toothpick. And, to everyone’s surprise, the next morning “Bird” was still alive! More bread and milk… two days, three days… more bread and milk.

    As “Bird” developed feathers, it was apparent we were raising a pesky sparrow. Yes, after ridding the farm of dozens of such pests, now my daughter was working diligently to raise one to adulthood. Those drab, brown/gray feathers that we couldn’t stand to see on the farm were now growing as a coat on a “resident” of my own home. What????

    Okay, if you’re going to keep it… if it’s going to be a pet (a sparrow as a “pet”????)… let’s name “Bird”. No! Mother and daughter would have nothing to do with the idea of assigning a name to “Bird”. If we give him/her a name, we’ll be so much more disappointed should it die. If we name “Bird”, it will be so much more difficult to release him/her back to the wild. So, “Bird” lived on… and on… and on… and on…

    When his cage needed cleaned, our daughter would turn “Bird” loose in the garage. Once the cage was cleaned, she would open the door to the garage and holler “Bird!” “Bird” would land on her shoulder and she would pick it up and place it back into its cage. (Bird needed to stay in his/her cage while in the house. “Bird” was a wild sparrow… certainly not housebroken… and on a diet of bread and milk. “Bird’s” idea of ‘decorating’ by doo-doo, simply could not be tolerated!) Never did “Bird” know any other “mother” than Cathy. Never did “Bird” know that he/she was anything other than a member of our family.

    How do you release a bird into the wild that does not know he’s a bird? Could you imagine the surprise of a person walking down a sidewalk and a “pesky sparrow” land on their shoulder? And, where does a bird find bread and milk in the wild? Last time I looked, there isn’t a substantial supply of bread and milk sitting on most street corners waiting for the next sparrow to partake. Release to the wild became impossible. Would we be destined to keep “Bird” until he/she died a natural death? Surely, the life expectancy of a sparrow could not be too long. One year… two years… three years…??????

    A couple of times, it was decided “Bird” needed a new cage. Each time a new cage would be purchased, it was discovered “Bird” had other ideas. Placed into a new cage, “Bird” would hunker down in the corner of the cage floor and just shudder. He would not eat. He would not drink. “Bird” would go into almost a convulsive state until placed back into the old cage. Stupid, pesky sparrow…. He’s only a bird and, yet, exerts control enough to not even accept a new cage? What? Surely, a bird isn’t smart enough to know one cage from another. Oh, yes! I can attest that, at least, that bird DID know the difference!

    “Bird” loved company. When “Bird” would hear activity up in the daughter's room in the morning, he would begin singing. When “Bird” heard/saw my wife in the kitchen, he would sing and sing and sing. “Bird” seemed to know the faces of those who so diligently provided him his daily ration of bread and milk that he would sing just for them. Naw!!! Just a pesky sparrow. He couldn’t have been able to differentiate between human beings! After all, he’s just a bird… just a stupid sparrow!

    So, what is the life expectancy of a sparrow? (If kids with BB guns are kept away!) Just how long would one expect to be blessed with the company of “Bird”? How long would we be reminded that one of God’s creatures, regarded as quite low in importance to man, could become a bona fide member of a human family? How long would a “stupid sparrow” grace a home and be a listening ear to family experiences, both good and bad? How long would this “bird brain” hear arguments or discussions that were quite serious in the minds of the humans and, simply, reply with his singing. You see, no matter how difficult the times or how joyous the times, Bird” was happy with the cage he was given… never wanting more. No matter how tight budgets were or how a family dealt with the rigors of raising children, “Bird” was completely satisfied to have his bread and milk. Whether the family was rejoicing or meeting challenges, “Bird” sang the same tune. And, in fact, “Bird” was so appreciative of what he had he would sing beautiful melodies giving thanks. Never, were there harsh, evil, tones suggesting “Bird” was not getting his “fair share” or that he was “entitled” to something greater!

    “… his eye is on the sparrow…” No, for 12 years, the eye of the sparrow was on a family. "Bird" had moved from our home to what was now the home of our daughter and new son-in-law. For 12 years, our family was blessed with having the opportunity to learn valuable life lessons from a “stupid sparrow”. And, when the day came that “Bird” decided his original “heroine”… When “Bird” finally determined our daughter and her family had made it through some extremely difficult times and survived those times… “Bird” had done his job and went, peacefully, away. In our daughter's home, the soft singing of a sparrow has been replaced by the sounds of three children. In our daughter's home, the same excitement detected in “Bird’s” singing as he knew his “Mother” was rising and preparing for school is now detected in the voices of three children… three children just as blessed and excited to have the best Dad and Mom they could ever dream of! You see, these three children “fell out of a nest” one day, and were picked up and given love and respect and hope and ideals by a very special couple. Today, you can see the same spark… excitement… appreciation… in the eyes of these three children as could be heard in the singing voice of a sparrow. The young teenager who “declared” she would successfully nourish a “stupid sparrow” has, with her husband, taken on the significant task of successfully nourishing the bodies and minds of three young children.
     
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  15. Will Lawrence

    Will Lawrence Veteran Member
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    Re above "Bird" story... the little girl who was 14 years old when she rescued a "dumb bird" will turn 40 on Valentine's Day. She and her husband will celebrate their 20th Anniversary in June this year. My how time flies...........
     
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