He's a bit of a character too. Other corvids are rarely allowed to approach me when I'm feeding him because he will bully them and steal their food. So I have to sneak food to others if I wanna feed them. That usually fails unless he's already full and/or not in a hoarding mood, which is never. He'll make exceptions for corvids in his own murder, when he wants.
He knows when I'm here because he recognizes the sound my bike makes, sometimes I'll see him on a lamp post and he'll fan his wings a couple times and swoop down to the spot before I even park up. I try not to overfeed him, so I toss him one (unsalted) peanut at a time, and if I do drop a handful, that same handfull will be in his beak in seconds.
He also tricks me into feeding him more. It's winter, so I usually leave some peanuts at the same spot if I don't see him. He understands that, and he'll wait for me to do it, and then swoops down from the treeline as soon as they hit the ground.
If I go into the store, he'll follow and be perched right outside for when I come out.
He's really, really smart. Jackdaws often swoop down to eat and magpies linger on the powerlines in hopes to be fed, but they'd have more chances going into the nearby store than trying to steal from this brow.
Sorry for the filthy bike btw, I cleaned it two days ago and it's already full of grime. At least the brow is impeccable.
What was the gift? He’s definitely your friend!
Couldn't quite make out what it was, but it was placed neatly on my seat :D Wish I had a pic of it.
Very cool! What kind of crow is this?
A very greedy crow. :)
It's called a hooded crow, they're very common in northern EU.
Hahaha! Lovely, thank you!
They're also pretty common in the southern EU. At least here where I am, they're very active on the coast. I like the german name for them the most, Nebelkrähe, meaning mist crow.
I hope to form a relationship with one of them like you did.
He's lovely♥️
Very. It's so pure to see crows get all excited for food, they're really expressive :D
They're absolutely amazing beings!
Crowbrow™️
“Follows me to the store” Omgosh!! Smart indeed! Thanks for sharing this 🤗
Whenever I walk and done feeding it, it still follows me to the forest path and watches me go, it's the cutest thing ever. Birds are the purest thing there is :D
That is so cool!! You’re very lucky
I love him. What great friends
I wish I had a good video camera to put on my helmet, I'd film something and upload it here, I'll have to move out next year and I'll miss him very much :(
That's always sad. I'm sorry friend. Do you have a friend you could spend the next few months introducing to your bird friend? Maybe someone else could take up the mantle.
Sadly I'm a bit of a lone wolf so don't have anyone that could feed him and the murder. :C
But I'm planning on getting a bigger motorcycle that can do highway speeds, so I can visit then once in a while, the ride might take an hour or so but I love riding and feeding crows so it's a win-win in my book. I thought about leaving a paper note on the parking sign that says "This is a crow's feeding spot, put some unsalted peanuts if you can!" but the people here don't care much for crows it seems, I never see anyone feed em'.
I get you. I don't know that I'd have anyone in real life and then I could get to do it either. Maybe a local city subreddit or Facebook group? I like your sign idea too. You never know. Maybe it'll inspire someone curious out there.
I love that you won't too far away and you can still visit them. No matter what, you'll share a bond with them.
Your bike is awesome man! And beautiful bird
Thanks! I usually get some people stop and chat about the bike because they're pretty rare here, this is a 4 stroke and a 50cc here is usually a 2 stroke supermoto or a monkey bike. It's got a few thinking it's a bigger bike than it is :P Rides pretty well too!
The crow definitely steals the show though :P
So far I've just been getting poop lol
Ah damn xD I hope the day comes for you where it won't be poop :D
hey thanks! Me too! but for now I'll take it I guess… It means they're hanging out here so I guess I'm on the path, right? 🤣
That looks like one really big crow! He sounds like a real character 🥰
Oh yeah he's chunky! Thankfully it's not unhealthy, it's been this big ever since I first saw it. And yeah he sure is, I actually have quite a lot of stories about it. This one time there was another murder of crows landing nearby and it got all puffy trying to look even bigger and swooped them to no end because they were trying to get food from me.
His bullying game was on and haven't seen them around since! Pretty sure he's the dominant one around :D
Oh yes, some crows can be as large as a small raven!
The pair of crows that decided to come to the outskirts of their murder to nest adopted my house. The male was enormous a lot like your guy. He was very territorial about my house. A couple other crows found this place and he and the Mrs. had a big fight with them, that went back-and-forth from my house to across the street. They finally chased the intruders out.
I was blessed with them bringing me their five babies when they fledged! Of the five babies, the oldest was as big as Dad and the youngest was a tiny little thing. What’s funny Is that the baby was in charge and everyone knew it lol!
I was surprised to see her and other siblings up on the feeder with her, but then when her big brother got up there, she would snap at him and make him get off. One time she even lifted up 1 foot and kicked him in the chest. 🤣
After a while, I discovered why she was a bully to him. I would put out a half boiled egg for everyone and the big guy would try to steal everyone else’s eggs. Apparently she didn’t like that. lol
We could trade some stories I’m sure!
Omg. You have them at your house? I'm jealous asf right now lmao, that's awesome. I wonder if they ever get demanding if the food ever runs out? Used to feed magpies at our window, and they would make sounds if there was no food out. :D They raised two before we moved out.
Loved to read this, it's sweet that they had fledgelings practically at your doorstep xD Goes to show just how intelligent these birds are actually.
I have never had crows around where I lived before, so I was beyond thrilled when I saw these two scoping out the neighborhood. I figured they had to be looking for a place away from the rest of the murder to have their babies.
I got busy right away, setting up two birdbaths under a small tree in my front yard and putting out a selection of nuts and boiled eggs for them. I also came up with a whistle I used just for them when I did. The daddy Crow had a return call for me. The baby of the fledglings also had her call for me as well.
They were the sweetest and silliest and funniest little things I’ve ever seen. They had no idea what they were doing in a lot of ways.
One time I heard screaming outside my window and ran over to look and saw a cat in the front yard near their feeder. They were all huddled up in the big tree next to their feeder screaming for me to come take care of the killer kitty lol!
The cat was kind of frozen in fear from the racket, and the baby screamed louder when they saw me at the window. I was like they don’t even realize all they have to do is swoop on that cat one time and it would be out of there.
I was honored to go chase the kitty away for them, which took all of two seconds lol! When they saw me step out on the front porch to get rid of the cat, they got quiet. Then when the kitty left they all came flying down to their feeder and making what I assumed was celebratory sounds thanking me. 🥰
They got demanding with me when they decided I was the first stop of their day and I did not get up at the crack of dawn and go put food out for them. I would be woken up with them carrying on about it.
I came up with a solution of putting freshwater and handful of peanuts in their feeder the night before. That way they could come early and I could sleep in.
Then the schedule was for me to bring out a nice buffet of several things around 11 or so for their lunch. If I was late, they would moan about it a bit and let me know I was late. lol!
Unfortunately, the babies left at the end of summer. I can’t believe how heartbroken I was not to have them coming and entertaining me every day.
I do know that the members of murders stay closer together and closer to their roosting spot during colder months, and I can drive a few blocks and find them near the strip malls and McDonald’s and things along with about 50 others. I’m assuming my family are all safe.
I’ve been told that they will be back here because this is their secret little safe place that they found that no one else is allowed. The parents will be back to have their next set of babies and the babies will come as well because they help take care of new babies for two or three years apparently. Then with any luck when it’s time for the babies to have their own babies, they will have them here as well. I can hardly wait. 😍
bad ass corvid on a bad ass bike!
Thanks a lot :D
pretty Magpie Crow
They’re called hooded crows. They are related to magpies, but they aren’t magpies.
Thank you, I appreciate that You've made a very good friend
I’m not the OP but thank you