Does this mean we are doomed…?

Has anyone counted the ravens at the Tower lately? Just a thought.

Oo that would make a good book title, The scream of the raven corpse.

Thank you for your reply. I have other amazing bird stories. A few years ago the numbers of kites grew through the reintroduction in Wales. They are fed on waste meat and are now in their hundreds.(I am not in Wales, they fly long distances) One day I saw a flock of seagulls overhead. At the front of the seagull flock was a single raven. It was so amazing. After that, I had flocks of seagulls feeding with flocks of crows et al.

My front garden is long, and block paved. The 36" square ancient stone bird table is placed in the centre of the garden with a cherry tree a few feet away. Over the years the crows learned to fly down according to the wind and walk about on the block paving. Gradually the seagulls learned to do the same. It was amazing to watch how they flew down to the ground between the tree and the stone table. They stayed a whole year, until I stopped feeding them in the pandemic.
I cannot say why they made this alliance with the white birds. I suspect it was to distract the kites. It was a bit like watching a living chess board.

I get it OP I once found a huge dead rat just lying in the middle if my lawn. We've never had a rat problem I'm aware of and it didn't appear to be maimed in any way just dead..

Finding unexplained dead bodies about the place is unnerving

Amazing story @llizzie Wish I had been there to witness this, it must have been an awe inspiring sight.

I'm another regular corvid feeder - we make "crow porridge" and fling it onto the flat roof of our garage. Some mornings they line up along the fence to wait. They are fascinating to watch and definitely begin to have a recognition of you if you feed them often.

What does that have to do with it? For years, until this year, I fed the crows, ravens, rooks, all of them in my garden. I have a yard wide stone bird table. I gave them a variety of various foods, peanuts, raisins, and so on, and cut the bread into squares. They came in flocks to feed. They would fly to the high tree, and along the tops of the roofs.

They had a very precise order to their food. One bird, usually a raven, would fly down and walk around the table and the ground to see what was on offer. Then the other birds would come down to eat, and at nesting times, would take the food back to the nest. When fledged, they would feed the young on the ground or on rooftops.

They never messed on the table or the ground where they fed. They squabbled very occasionally. Otherwise, they showed great respect.

One afternoon I went into the back room where I could not hear any noise in front, for a rest. I got up to make some tea and was greeted by a cacophony of noise. When I looked out of the window there were thousands of crows, possibly every crow in the county, flying over the garden.

I went out to see why, and at the bottom of my wheelchair ramp there was a crow trapped in an oven shelf which I had propped up, but which had fallen on the ground and trapped the poor bird. Thousands of crows - more than the film 'birds' were in the garden (58ft wide and long). Perhaps because I could not move quickly, they allowed me to approach the trapped one. It looked terrified. For some reason, because I had not been in that position before, I put my finger on my lips, like you do a child, and the bird visibly relaxed enough for me to lift the shelf (one of those with rods from the oven) and allow it to fly away. The difference between the noise and the silence when I appeared was palpable. When the trapped one was airborne, all those birds flew away.

Above them I saw the kites, large birds of prey, and realised that the thousand strong flock was protecting the one trapped bird from the kites. I don't think many people would do that, do you? I don't know how long the bird had been trapped, but somehow they could muster a whole county full of crows in a very short time.

Maybe read Macbeth? 🤦‍♀️

Crows are nothing of the kind. Study them. You will find they are unbelievably intelligent creatures and the love and respect they have for one another.

It is a myth created by filmmakers.

Happens every other fathers day... we have a murder that lives on our roof and every breeding round one overly curious fledgling will fall down the chimney.

The cats are useless and cower in the corner (although probably far better than a blood bath) and we have to catch the damn thing to put back outside for mama crow to come get.

Fun fact: birds tell their children off too when they do something they're weren't suppose to.

Do you have a window in your front door? Could it have stunned itself on that or another window in the house and knocked itself out? You can get stickers to go on glass - such as butterflies - which tell the bird it is glass and not open.

Birds do sometimes die in the open. They have to die somewhere. Perhaps a neighbourhood moggy made you an offering?

You could drive yourself silly thinking it to be more than that.

If it worries you, find out from your local RSPB if there is any sort of bird disease going around the area. That might put your mind at rest.

When I lived in a Cumbrian cottage with open fireplaces 30 years ago, I was woken up early one morning by a bit of a kerfuffle as the cat shot off the bed, hissing and growling. A moment later I heard a squawk and looked up to see a crow perched on top of the wardrobe.
Fortunately the bird was able to be released via the window and both crow and cat lived to tell the tale so I wasn't doomed 😁And for those who wonder, yes - my cat was jet black.

At least not a headless deer outside your front gate.
Saw one in Scotland and the house owners/council? left it there for days.
Have had two birds outside the front door on two occasions.

You are correct that a crow is an omen of death. And a dead crow is worse.

However it is more likely that it met with an accident, a cat, fox or bird of prey attack or flew into your window.

I'd feel creeped out but actually it's nothing to worry about unless you've crossed the local witch...

A sparrowhawk literally fell out of the sky and landed dead (or at least very much on its way) at my feet the other week. Now that was mental.

This thread reminded me of the time I found a huge decapitated crow lying on DDs white duvet.

Bastarding cat 😺

You’ll soon be desensitised OP. Life in the countryside is in essence closer contact with random carcasses. If it’s small animal rather than a horses head or entire cow you are doing fine!

Have you ever been to the Sistene Chapel op?

Doomed, doomed. We're all doomed!
If it was a raven...but it seems to be a crow.

Oh OP no you're not doomed 🤣 a neighbourhood kitty brought you a present no doubt.

A few years back I was working out in a field (was working with livestock) and a headless pigeon fell out of the sky and landed right at my feet 😅 I did have a feeling that it could be a bad omen but alas it was probably a hawk that had dropped it!

I've had a green woodpecker artfully arranged on a rug thanks to a cat. Various rats, mice, birds etc too. No longer have a cat, so mainly suicidal pigeons now which fly into the windows and expire.

Good grief, far too much drama over a dead bird! Is this how you usually respond to a perfectly normal (although marginally unpleasant) occurrence?

There are numerous ways it could have ended up there. I've seen two baby gulls slide down the roof of my house and crash land in front of my door and knock themselves out, so that's an option.

@TitsInAbsentia
That made me chuckle. As did your username 🤣