The crow

No not the movie, the American crow

Crow Identification

The American crow is one of America’s best-known birds. Males and females are outwardly alike. Their large size (17 to 21 inches [43 to 53 cm] long), completely coal-black plumage and familiar “caw caw” sound make them easy to identify, even among other types of crows. They are fairly common in areas near people, and tales of their wit and intelligence have been noted in many stories.

Crow Habitat

American crows are widely distributed over much of North America. They breed from Newfoundland and Manitoba southward to Florida and Texas, and throughout the West, except in the drier southwestern portions. Crows in the northern parts of their range migrate southward in the fall and generally spend winter south of the Canada-United States border.
American crows servive the best in a mixture of open fields where food can be found and woodlots where there are trees for nesting and roosting. They commonly live in woodlots, wooded areas along streams and rivers, farmlands, orchards, parks and suburban areas. Winter roosting concentrations of crows occur in areas that have favorable roost sites and abundant food.

Crow Myths

The myth that splitting the tongue allows a crow to talk better is not true and is needlessly cruel.

Fun Crow Facts

- Crows are among the most intelligent of birds. Experiments indicate that American crows can count to three or four, are good at solving puzzles, have good memories, employ a diverse and behaviorally complex range of vocalizations and quickly learn to associate various noises and symbols with food.
- Crows can mimic sounds made by other birds and animals and have been taught to mimic the human voice.
- Crows begin nesting in early spring (February to May, with southern nests starting earlier than northern ones) and build a nest of twigs, sticks, and coarse stems ranging from 18 to 60 feet (5 to 18 m) above ground in oaks, pines, cottonwoods or other trees.
- Crow pairs appear to remain together throughout the year, at least in nonmigratory populations, and pairs or pair bonds are likely maintained even within large winter migratory flocks.
- The female incubates the eggs and is fed during incubation by the male and nest associates. The young leave the nest at about five weeks of age and forage with their parents throughout the summer. Later in the year, the family may join other groups that in turn may join still larger groups. The larger groups often migrate in late fall or winter.
- Few crows in the wild live more than four to six years, but some have lived to 14 years in the wild and over 20 years in captivity. A bird bander reported a crow that had lived 29 years in the wild.
- A communal roost site in the Fort Cobb area in Oklahoma holds several million crows each winter. In Nebraska, Wisconsin, and possibly other states, crows appear to be roosting in towns near people. These flocks roost together at night and disperse over large areas to feed during the day. Crows may commonly fly six to twelve miles (10 to 20 km) outward from a roost each day to feed.

Crow Damage Identification

Complaints associated with crow damage to agriculture were more common in the 1940s than they are today. Although surveys indicate that overall crow numbers have not changed appreciably, the populations appear to be more scattered during much of the year. This change has resulted apparently from the crows’ response to changing land-use patterns. Farming has become more prevalent in some areas, generally with larger fields. Woodland areas are generally smaller, and trees and other resources in urban sites provide crow habitat. Overall, the amount and degree of damage is highly variable from place to place and year to year. Several variables enter into the complex picture of crow damage, including season, local weather, time of harvest, amount of crop production, and availability and distribution of wild mast, insects and other foods.
Many of the problems caused by crows are more commonly associated with other animal species. Crows may damage seedling corn plants by pulling the sprouts and consuming the kernels. Similar damage may also be caused by other birds (pheasants, starlings, blackbirds) and rodents (mice, ground squirrels). Crows at times damage ripening corn during the milk and dough stages of development. Such damage, however, is more commonly caused by blackbirds. Crows consume peanuts when they are windrowed in fields to dry, but other birds, especially grackles, cause the greatest portion of this damage. Crows may also damage other crops, including ripening grain sorghum, commercial sunflowers, pecans, various fruits and watermelons. They may also attack very young calves, pigs, goats and lambs in rare situation. This problem, which is more often associated with magpies or ravens, is most likely to happen where livestock births occur in unprotected open fields near large concentrations of crows.
Another complaint about crows is that they consume the eggs and sometimes the young of waterfowl, pheasants, and other birds during the nesting season. It can be a problem of concern locally, particularly where breeding waterfowl are concentrated and where there is too little habitat cover to conceal nests.

Large fall and winter crow roosts cause serious problems when located in towns or other sites near people. Such roosts are objectionable because of the odor of the bird droppings, health concerns, noise and damage to trees in the roost. In addition, crows flying out from roosts each day to feed may cause agricultural or other damage problems.
Finally, large crow flocks may become a factor in spreading disease. At times, they feed in and around farm buildings, where they have been implicated in the spread of transmissible gastroenteritis (TGE) among swine facilities. At other times, large crow flocks near wetland areas may increase the potential for spread of waterfowl diseases such as avian cholera. The scavenging habits of crows and the apparent longer incubation time of the disease in crows are factors that increase the potential for crows to spread this devastating disease.

Crow Legal Status

Crows are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, a federal act resulting from a formal treaty signed by the United States, Canada and Mexico. However, under this act, crows may be controlled without a federal permit when found “committing or about to commit depredations upon ornamental or shade trees, agricultural crops, livestock or wildlife, or when concentrated in such numbers and manner to constitute a health hazard or other nuisance.”
States may require permits to control crows and may regulate the method of take. Federal guidelines permit states to establish hunting seasons for crows. During these seasons, crows may be hunted according to the regulations established in each state. Regulations or interpretation of depredation rules may vary among states, and state or local laws may prohibit certain control techniques such as shooting or trapping. Check with local wildlife officials if there is any doubt regarding legality of control methods.

CROW EXCLUSION

Netting to exclude crows from high-value crops or small areas. Protect ripening corn in gardens by covering each ear with a paper cup or sack after the silk has turned brown. Widely-spaced lines or wires placed around sites taht need protection may have some efficacy in repelling crows, but further study is needed.

CROW CULTURAL METHODS

Alternate or decoy foods; example: scatter whole corn, preferably softened by water, through a field to protect newly planted corn seedlings.

FRIGHTENING CROWS

Use with roosts, crops, and some other situations. Frightening devices include recorded distress or alarm calls, pyrotechnics, various sound-producing devices, chemical frightening agents (Avitrol®), lights, bright objects, high-pressure water spray, and, where appropriate, shotguns.

TRAPPING CROWS

Check laws before trapping. Australian crow decoy traps may be useful near a high-value crop or other areas where a resident population is causing damage. Proper care of traps and decoy birds is necessary. Capture single crows uninjured in size No. 0 or No. 1 steel traps that have the jaws wrapped with cloth or rubber.

Article courtesy of crittercontrol.com


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A guide about the best and probably easiest way to tame your new pet bird

Taming your new pet bird can seem like quite a daunting task, but with time and patience it can be achieved successfully.
Most pet birds can be tamed, that is they can learn to trust you and allow you to handle them without being too nervous.

A lot of patience is needed on your part to achieve this, and the taming process needs to begin whilst the bird is still young and has not yet learned to be afraid of people. It can be done with an adult bird but is usually much more of a challenge.

Some bird breeds however do tend to be a little more difficult to tame (finches for example), they'll sit on your hand or finger ok but would often rather get away from you, and are less likely to take food offerings (unfortunately I don't know why that is so) but my findings are based on my own personal experience with these birds so if you'v had better luck or you get better look with this then good for you! (Please let me know how you'v managed it, I'd love to learn where I'm going wrong). Most parrot-like species (budgies, cockatiels etc) however are a different matter and will readily take to hand taming as long as this is approached in the correct manner.
Remember that whilst trying to tame your pet bird sudden movements or loud noises are a no no, you don't want to frighten the poor thing, talk softly, move slowly and don't shout at your bird, even if it does misbehave.

Whilst your bird is still very young, has only very recently flown the nest, and has not yet gained enough confidence to fly away is the best time to start the taming process.
Take your bird in hand or use your finger or hand as a perch and allow your bird to step onto it. Talk softly to your bird all the time as you are doing this, tell him or her what a good boy or girl they are for example. Give your bird time to get used to this and gradually move your hand around the cage and hopefully your bird will stay put. Offer some food stuffs and if your bird takes them it's a sign that at the moment it is putting its trust in you. After a while, say 5 minutes, return it to its normal perch and then leave it there and talk to it again from the outside of its enclosure for a minute or two, your bird will need to learn to trust the sound of your voice. Say goodbye then go away and leave your pet bird to its own devices for a few hours.

Do this several times a day, every day, until you feel it is confident enough to stay with you outside its cage. Your birds cage is its home and is the place where your bird feels at its safest, so if you try to take your bird out of its cage it may just jump off your hand or finger back into its safe place. Be persistent but be patient also, remember your bird has already learned to put its trust in you and it will only be a matter of time before it feels safe enough for you to remove it from its home. Learn what is your birds favourite food treat and use it as a prize for being good (much like taming or training any animal). Again you must interact and try these methods regularly throughout each day, but don't overdo it, your bird will need to rest awhile between its taming sessions.
Soon you and your bird will have enough confidence in each other to allow you to perhaps walk about your home with your bird on your shoulder for example (pieces of eight), or your bird will follow you about. Eventually it will look forward to its daily human interaction and so will you.

Remember to be sure that if removing your bird from its cage not to give it any means to escape outside; close windows, doors and curtains, turn off the ceiling fan (don't want chopped bird do we), and try and restrict your taming to one room that your pet bird cannot escape from. Eventually you may be able to allow your bird the run of the house but you must still be sure to not leave any escape routes.

Be sure to do some bird taming every day, don't put it off, because if you miss your sessions then after a while your bird will lose its trust in you.
Be persistent and confident and do these things very regularly and sooner of later your pet bird will be fully confident with you and not nervous.

More information available in my new ebook now available, email me to get yourself a copy or to ask any bird keeping related questions. I will try and answer as soon and as honestly as possible.

For more bird keeping related issues please email me with your questions.
More information available in my new pet bird keeping ebook available now, visit http://www.myebook.com/index.php?option=ebook&id=80653 to get your copy or paste the above url into your web browser.
My pet bird keeping blog is now online at http://www.stanton-birdman.blogspot.com/, please take a look at it!
Pete Etheridge
Nottinghamshire, UK
Keeper and breeder of pet birds for 10 years.
Offering information and advice on all aspects of bird keeping.
stanton.birdman@gmail.com

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Feeding Wild Birds in the Fall

Bird watching is an ever-growing hobby in the United States; therefore, bird feeders are a popular topic when it comes to bird watching. Some people question keeping their feeders out through the autumn months due to fear that wild birds will not migrate or just think birds will not use them as much. However, there are many benefits to leaving your feeders out through the autumn months for both wild birds and you.

One common misconception people may think about leaving their bird feeders out through the autumn season is that birds will not migrate. This is called a 'misconception' for good reason. Birds will eventually migrate when they are ready. Leaving your feeders out is only helping prepare them for their long migration journey. Taking your feeders down too early confuses them and may leave them struggling to store up enough body fat for their long journey. This in turn will make for a hard migration. Therefore, leave your feeders out at least for two weeks following the last sight of a bird at your bird feeders.

Wild birds develop a daily routine of visits to bird feeders and other natural sources of food and nutrition. Most birds may rely on your feeders for a secondary or even primary source of food and nutrition. At this time of year their natural sources of food may have somewhat or completely depleted. To prepare them for migration, wild birds will stock up on body fat; therefore, you will see them more often at your bird feeders this time of year. With that said alone, it is important to keep your feeders out through the autumn months.

Leaving your bird feeders out through the autumn months may attract other migrating birds and potentially invite new birds to your feeding area the following year. Migration is a long and exhausting trip for wild birds. For those birds passing through your backyard, they will appreciate the sources of food in your bird feeders through the migration season. If your feeders are made available they will most likely make them their usual lay-over every migration season. Not only does this benefit migrating birds but you will get an opportunity to maybe see new wildlife that you may have not seen before. This is an exciting time for bird watchers.

It's always important to keep your bird feeders clean just as you would during the summer months. Some people think they will not be used as much so why clean them. However, the cleaner your feeders are the more wild birds you will most likely attract during the migration season.

So think twice about taking down your bird feeders early. Remember that rather than a disservice, wild bird feeding in the autumn season provides opportunities for bird wildlife during the migration season. Bird feeders are a vital food source in the autumn months for those birds who have been accustomed to using the bird feeders you provide as well as migrating birds. If you do decide to take them down during the autumn season try waiting at least two weeks after your last bird visitor. Leaving your feeders out also extends your bird watching pleasure.

My name is Angie and I love the outdoors. I sell lawn & garden decor from my online store and strive to provide the best quality and largest variety of lawn ornaments I can. My store provides a lot of cute ideas for people to decorate their outdoor space. Personalize your lawn & garden today with adorable garden statues, stepping stones, bird feeders, bird houses, wind chimes, wind spinners and much more.
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http://www.outdoormama1.blogspot.com

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A Few Words In Praise of Birds

Why do birds appeal to us ? Most people enjoy the sight of birds, even people who have never been active birdwatchers. Although birds are less like us in appearance and habits than our fellow mammals, birds undeniably hold a special place in our hearts.

One reason that birds capture our imaginations is that they can fly, while we remain trapped here on earth. What child hasn't watched a bird fly overhead and dreamt of being up there in the sky flying alongside ? What adults have not, at one time or another, wished that they could take wing and fly away from all of their everyday troubles and cares ? Birds are natural symbols of freedom and escape. After all, what could better encapsulate our vision of pure freedom than the ability to fly off into the sunset ?

Birds can soar overhead and they can also cover great distances. They are privy to a "bird's eye view" of a single building or a park, or an entire city or landscape, making them a perfect metaphor for obtaining a fresh perspective on a situation, or for taking a larger view of an issue.

Birds often symbolize other things, as well, such as human character traits and qualities. There's the proud peacock, the noble eagle, the thieving magpie, squabbling crows, and billing and cooing love birds. Gliding swans are the perfect picture of grace and elegance in motion. The hawk is a symbol of war, the dove a symbol of peace.

What else attracts us to birds ? Birds have feathers, soft to the touch and a joy to look at. Plumage seems to come in an infinite variety of lovely colors and patterns, from the subtle, earthy tones of the common house sparrow to the outrageous, iridescent regalia of the showy peacock. Birds are beautiful works of art, signed by nature. Their plumage adds color and spectacle to a humdrum world. Their colors may also suggest many different locales and associations to us.

For example, those small, round, brown sparrows are homey, comforting and familiar to those of us who live in temperate climates. They are our backyard friends and neighbors. American cardinals and blue jays are highly colored, cheerful sights to behold on gray days, from the tips of their tail feathers to the fanciful crests on their heads. They are a bit more exotic, yet they are still familiar backyard friends. Then there are those birds who live in far off exotic places, such as African pink flamingos and tropical parrots, who sport wonderful tropical colors. We love them, not only for their magnificent colors, but also for their association with far-flung lands and exotic adventures.

Birds also come in a great variety of shapes and sizes, which further adds to their appeal. We can relate to them, in so far as they, and we, have two eyes, one mouth and bilateral symmetry. Yet, they are also very unlike us. They have protruding beaks, from the sparrow's tiny jabbing beak to the toucan's enormous appendage. They have wings, more unlike human arms than those of other mammals, or even of reptiles. In fact, when their wings are folded against their sides, birds appear to have no arms at all. They also have thin, bare legs and they have claws. Their heads and necks flow smoothly into their bodies. Their forms create graceful outlines, whether round like a chubby European robin, long like an African parrot, or sleek like a regal swan.

Yes, birds are beautiful to look at, but the beauty of birds is not confined to the visual aspects of shape and color alone, because birds also fill the air with music. They seem to offer us their song simply to entertain us, and they ask for nothing in return. Like a garden bursting with colorful flowers, the fantastic colors and songs of birds seem frivolous and out of place in a world full of harsh realities. It seems as though they were put on earth expressly to make life more beautiful. They were not, of course. Their color and song serve biological ends in the process of natural selection, but that does not prevent us from enjoying such sights and sounds. We can listen in on their free concerts and derive pleasure and serenity from the experience. We can also be amused when a few species of birds even mimic our own speech.

Another characteristic of birds that we humans respond to is the fact that they build nests. They seem so industrious and we watch with wonder as each type of bird builds its own species-specific nest, ranging from a simple assemblage of twigs to an intricately woven masterpiece of craftmanship. "Nest" is such a cozy word. Birds build their cozy nests, care for their young, and raise their families, all in the course of a single spring or summer. We admire their patience and devotion and attentive care to their offspring. We observe and marvel at a parent bird's countless trips to and from the nest to diligently feed the helpless chicks. Birds provide us with fine role models for parenting.

Yes, birds are homebodies during the nesting season, but they also migrate. Birds are free to come and go and many cover vast distances each year, as they travel between their summer and their winter homes. They are social creatures, moving in flocks and creating great spectacles as they fly. A glimpse of a V-shaped flock of geese passing overhead thrills us and stirs something in us. We admire their strength and endurance in carrying out such grueling journeys year after year. We envy them, too, for they are free to go beyond mere political boundaries and to cross entire continents. We up north are sorry to see them part each autumn and we are heartened to see them return each spring. The return of such birds as the swallows signals the return of spring, with its promise of birth and renewal.

Each spring we are able to welcome them back into our midsts, for nearly everywhere that humans live, birds live also. Birds cover the earth. There is such a diversity of bird species to fill each ecological niche on earth and to contribute to its balance by doing such things as eating insects and dispersing plant seeds. There are the ducks and moorhens of rural ponds. There are birds who live in the forests. There are birds in the mountains and birds in the deserts. The forbidding oceans have their hardy puffins and pelicans. Even frozen, icy places have their own birds, the lovable penguins.

Birds adapt to so many different habitats and situations, including human environments. The often ignored pigeon is a beautiful bird. (I have cared for and been grateful to have known many individual pigeons over the years.) As a species, they have managed to adapt to modern cityscapes, substituting cliff-like building ledges and bridge girders for their ancestral cliffs of rock. Other bird species may be less tolerant of such disturbances and avoid the prying eyes of humans.

Wherever they choose to live, birds remain symbols of untamed nature, surviving despite man's interference with their habitats. They remain proud and free to the present day. They are also a living link to the mysterious and fascinating history of life on our planet, as birds are the surviving heirs to the dinosaurs. One look at unfeathered baby birds, with their oversized beaks and feet, and it is easy to see the dinosaur in them.

Each of us may have our own reason, or combination of reasons, for loving birds, but their appeal is indisputable and universal. Birds represent the perfect blend of beauty, strength, grace and endurance, from the cuteness of a tiny sparrow to the majesty of an imposing raptor. Birds fill both the eye and the ear with beauty. We enjoy them. We admire them. Sometimes we envy them. They add appreciably to the quality of our lives and to the diversity of life on earth and the world would be a smaller, sadder, emptier place without them.

Barbara Freedman-De Vito is a professional storyteller and artist. Visit Kids T-Shirts, children's clothing, and adult's clothes decorated with pictures and words

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The Wild Turkey

Its that time of year again, turkey time! (or Tofurky time depending on your preference) I would like to take the time today though to learn about the turkey before it's snuggled up next to the mashed potatoes.

The Wild Turkey was a very important food animal to Native Americans, but it was eliminated from much of its range by the early 1900s. Introduction programs have successfully established it in most of its original range, and even into areas where it never occurred before.

Adult Description
Large, dark ground-dwelling bird.
Long, powerful legs.
Large, fan-shaped tail.
Bare head and neck.
Short, slightly downcurved bill.
Tip of tail chestnut-brown (in East) or white (in Southwest).

Male Description
Breast feathers tipped with black. Head and neck blue-gray with pink wattles. During spring display, forehead white, face bright blue, neck scarlet. Spurs on legs. Beard long and obvious, larger on older birds.

Female Description
Breast feathers tipped with brown, gray, or white. Head with small feathers. Beard small, if present.

Cool Facts
- A native of North America, the turkey is one of only two domesticated birds originating in the New World. The Muscovy Duck is the other.
- The turkey was Benjamin Franklin's choice for the United States's national bird. The noble fowl was a favored food of Native Americans. When Europeans arrived, they made it one of only two domestic birds native to the Americas—the Muscovy duck shares the distinction.
- European explorers took Wild Turkeys to Europe from Mexico in the early 1500s. They were so successfully domesticated in Europe that English colonists brought them back with them when they settled on the Atlantic Coast. The domestic form has retained the white tail tip of the original Mexican subspecies, and that character can be used to distinguish wandering barnyard birds from wild turkeys which have chestnut-brown tail tips.
- The male Wild Turkey provides no parental care. When the eggs hatch, the chicks follow the female. She feeds them for a few days, but they quickly learn to feed themselves. Several hens and their broods may join up into bands of more than 30 birds. Winter groups have been seen to exceed 200.
- Attempts to use game farm turkeys for reintroduction programs failed. In the 1940s wild birds were caught and transported to new areas, where they quickly became established and flourished. Such transplantations have been responsible for the spread of the Wild Turkey to 49 states. (Alaska is the only U.S. state without turkeys.)

Habitat
Found in Open Woodland and hardwood forests with scattered openings, swamps, mesquite grassland, ponderosa pine, and chaparral.

Food
Omnivore, mostly feeding on acorns, nuts, seeds, fruits, insects, buds, fern fronds, salamanders.

Nesting Facts
average clutch Size of 4–17 eggs which are tan or buffy white, evenly marked with tiny reddish spots. The chicks are downy and able to follow mother. Their nest are described as a depression in dead leaves or vegetation on ground

Behavior
The male gobbles to attract females. When she appears, he struts around her. He has his tail fanned and held up vertically, lowers his wings so that the wingtips drag on the ground, raises the feathers on his back, throws his head back onto his back with the bill forward, and inflates his crop. He makes occasional deep "chump" sounds, followed by a low "humm," and accompanied by a rapid vibration of his tail feathers. During the strut his facial skin engorges and the colors intensify, especially the white forehead. Forages on ground in flocks. Scratches ground to uncover nuts.

Conservation
Populations dropped drastically in 19th and early 20th century because of hunting and habitat loss. Northeastern populations were eradicated. Stocking programs successfully reintroduced turkeys to most of eastern range, and to areas outside the ancestral range in West. Populations continue to increase.

Article courtesy of allaboutbirds.com



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