The antics of young crows

I never tire of watching the antics of young birds and over the past few weeks have been delighted by the presence of a family party of crows. Although overlooked by many, and persecuted by others, the carrion crow (to give the bird its full name) is a resourceful, emblematic and adaptable bird, with a wide range that stretches from Ireland and Portugal in the west to China in the east.

Our local pair, nesting high in a tree on the edge of a narrow finger of woodland, has three youngsters. Over past weeks the parent birds followed a tireless routine of bringing food to the nest and seeing off potential predators. Now their role has changed; their young charges mobile and keen to explore the expanding world around them. The impression they give off is one of precocious teenagers, trying out new things and then running to mum went it all goes wrong. The parents seem resigned to the demands forced upon them but remain vigilant to potential threats. New objects attract particular attention, as one of my colleagues noted the other day. He watched one of the young crows investigating a hedgehog. Each time the crow approached, the hedgehog rolled into a ball and remained still. The crow seemed puzzled, then lost interest; the hedgehog unrolled itself and started to go about its business again. Now moving, the hedgehog attracted the crow’s attention and the game of stop/start repeated itself. Although this inquisitive behaviour may sometimes land the crow in trouble, it is an important component of learning, preparing the young bird for adulthood and helping to make the species so successful.

It can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between crows and rooks, since both share the general impression of a large black bird. There is an old country saying which runs “if tha’s a rook ‘tis a crow and if thems crows tis rooks.” This alludes to the different social systems of the two species, with the highly social and colonial nesting rook likely to be seen in large groups. Carrion crows, on the other hand, are typically seen singly or, as at this time of the year, in small family parties. There are structural differences too; carrion crow has a heavy black bill, which appears more blunt at its tip than that of the rook. The rook has a steeper forehead, a bill that tapers along its entire length and shaggy feathering on its thighs. Over the coming weeks both birds may come together, as they collect in huge winter roosts which draw in birds from large parts of the region, a feature so beautifully described by the author Mark Cocker in his new book ‘Crow Country’.