I took this yesterday in Belfast, where the funeral I attended took place.
That's a hooded crow, which is common in Ireland and the west and far north of Scotland, but nowhere else in the British Isles.
It's a great corvid, which as whole are amongst the most intelligent of birds. During an emotional day, that was good to see.
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What about the Irish Water Buffalos???? LOL!
Haven’t spotted many of them in central Belfast….
Well, if they’re that intelligent, maybe a few of them should to stand for parliament at the next election!
Free bird seed for all!
A few of those in Westminster might raise the IQ level.
We were staying at Findhorn last week in our camper, parked by the beach. There was a band of shingle between us and the sea, and it was strewn with broken crab, razor and mollusc shells. Wondered how they go so far from the sea (50 yards), until later we watched two hoodie crows flying in with small crabs which they dropped on the shingle to break the shells and get the meat inside. Sometimes it took two or three tries, they flew down, picked up the crab and dropped it again from about fifteen feet. it was fascinating. Have seen similar on TV, but not a few feet in front of me. Magic!
They are clever
I’m from Co.Armagh and studied in Belfast.
Big hearts.
Thanks
And they are around in the central belt of Scotland where there are also hoodie/carrion crow hybrids
Thanks
Reporting sightings in Aberdeenshire too. At least, it’s a different sort of crow from the ones I was used to seeing before I moved up here. And the locals call them “hoodies”.
I’ve seen them quite a lot, parked at the side of more rural roads. They (and their corvid cousins) seem to waiting for a passing car to provide carrion.
I was told that birds stomping on grass was to try to fool the worms that it was raining so that they’d come to the surface. Not sure that’s true though. (Although it did stop me using the term bird-brain – just in case!)
I’ve fed two hoodies every morning for several years (left over porridge mixed with a little bread). Mrs Hoodie always waits patiently on a nearby fence post and I have a brief chat with her as I deliver breakfast. Hubbie always arrives after I go back into the house. Sometimes he buries part of his breakfast under a tuft of grass in the lawn and retrieves it later. In previous years they’ve brought young with them for a while before chasing them off. Looks like they didn’t produce any this year*. Recently I cycled past a nearby pine wood and was greeted with a loud ‘kraak’ from the tree tops. I looked up and there were two hoodies. I’ll swear it was Mr & Mrs Hoodie bidding me good day.
* I accept that I may have this all wrong and last years young may have chased the parents off for all I know. It’s hard to distinguish between Hoodies, though I can spot the difference between male and female.
Thanks
And these birds do undoubtedly identify people who treat them well
I was once at Malham Cove in Yorkshire one winter and was was quite sure I saw Hooded Crows there. Follow up visits revealed Jackdaws – I’m sure it was not my imagination – we have seen them in Western Scotland for sure.
The Carrion Crow is the one that makes me smile the most – they are so crafty. As you walk up Dovedale in Derbyshire on a quiet day, they see you arrive in the car park and then follow you up the river and back down again on the look out for any tit bits. On the seafront at Bournemouth they can more than hold their own with the aggressive gulls as you walk along the promenade with your chips – hopping along the balustrade as if they were your shadow.
My favourite Corvid though is a toss up between the Jay and the Rook. In SE London, we had Jays on our balcony – I’d never seen them before – and we’d leave food out for them and they would come to feed from the trees across the carpark and you could just sit still and watch and take in what a colourful bird they are. I have only ever seen one Jay in Derbyshire in over 20 years I have lived here. They are normally very secretive. An uncommonly handsome bird the Jay.
What we get around our way though is Rooks – they nest in the large trees around where we live, but often congregate on our roofs and telephone wires. And really, all they do is talk to each other all day. They never shut up until dusk unless they see something they can snaffle up and they do manouvres to weigh up the situation and swoop down – the others appear to be watching out for them – local cats are a problem. And the way they stomp along your lawn is quite amusing too.
Crows work alone; with Rooks, its a team effort and it is quite endearing to be honest.
Much to agree with
Corvids undoubtedly communicate with each other
They do also work as communities
And they reward those who react them well and can pick on those who don’t
As for jays – they undoubtedly live astound here, but are scarce
I have still never seen a chough, the only UK one I am missing now
I first saw Choughs on the Llyn Peninsula in Wales – I thought they were just another ‘black bird’ until I noticed through my binoculars that they had bright red legs. It was at a location near the sea – there was a group of them chattering away and jumping about flapping their wings – they seemed to be having a get together – quite raucous they were.
I have been there – and never seen them
I must go again
If you want jays – plant peas and forget to cover the seed bed… (do you hear the voice of experience?)
Choughs look to have been re-introduced into Kent at Dover.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/02/choughs-breed-in-kent-for-first-time-in-200-years
🙂
There are a lot of hoodie crows in Edinburgh, especially around the Queens Park area and Arthur’s seat.