AIBU to feel guilty for not stopping a crow?

Say what now?

Thinking of changing my name to Crowscomingafteryou.......

This is kinda true, if a sheep gets stuck on its back crows will eat its eyes. (But they don’t attack mobile, healthy sheep or lambs) It’s not malicious, the eyes are the softest easiest part to eat. I grew up on a farm and have seen it happen, I might check with my mum, but I have a vague memory of having a one-eyed ewe due to a crow.

I’ll probably get flamed, but foxes are far more destructive than crows, they’ll kill far more than they'll eat, decimating chickens, and killing small lambs, they are not the cute puppies that the media portrays them as. Farmers try to control fox populations for a reason, crows are only a risk to newly sown crops.

A jay emptied the great tit’s nest in our neighbour’s garden a couple of springs ago. I know because it stopped on the wall across from our kitchen window to rearrange its prey. It returned every 5-10 mins until it had emptied the nest. 😔

Crows are corvids, birds of prey similar to kestrels, falcons, owls etc. It’s brutal to see them steal baby birds from nests, but there would be no point intervening as the baby would die of shock (and probably internal injuries) even if you did manage to put it back in the nest. There’s also an element of Darwinism here, the nest was obviously not in a good spot, too accessible to the crow, so mummy blackbird needs to choose a different site next time. Sad, but as others have said, it’s nature, and baby crows need to eat too.

Maybe it's more a small rural area of Scotland issue ... We're not going to be worried about thieves or sinkholes!

You should’ve stepped in.

You can hardly avoid human impacts without removing people from the planet - our entire countryside is a managed landscape - and has been since humans existed - if you take predator control out of the equation you remove the balance. You can of course leave everything to to return to the "wild" but such a thing doesn't really exist anymore and its the managed landscape has far greater biodiversity than any rewilding

Bloody hell- I had to google crow grudges 😱😱😱

Corvids and song birds have coexisted for millenia. Its human impacts, particularly in forestry and agriculture, that have decimated songbirds.

I think i saw this on a nature programme was about animals in cities, they are not daft.

We have crows on our drive this morning replacing the seagulls i wonder if they work in shifts 😀 they are not 1 bit bothered about the dog either.

Generally, I think, hard though it is, it’s better to let predators get on with it. Once they’ve started it’s vanishingly unlikely that the prey will survive, so at least this way the young crows will get to eat.

Jeezo had a vision of Alfred hitchcocks the birds 😬😬😬

What would he do?

Yesterday I saw a buzzard being 'bombed' by a seagull and a crow, working together to drive the buzzard away. Crows can be predators or prey too, and the poor buzzard chicks went hungry.

the crows in some part of Japan steal metal coat hangers from peoples washing lines and make their nests from them on pylons. they are far stronger and easier to bend into shape. They obviously line them with something soft, but they are exceedingly clever birds. I adore them, I like all the corvid family. I follow an amazing rescuer/ re wilder on FB called Nicholas Crawford - he doesnt allow them to be 'pets' even the ones who will never be able to be released, he is extremely passionate about allowing them to live as natural a life as possible.
https://www.youtube.com/@NickCrawford-s7f https://www.youtube.com/@NickCrawford-s7f]]]]

I think that it may be ravens not crows, but in some communities they just use the general 'crow' label for all the corvids.

Absolutely true, hooded crows are usually the culprits. Also some seagulls. They also peck out the tongues of newborn lambs. It maybe depends on the area, and if sheep are lambing outdoors. It's a big problem for flocks lambing outdoors in Scotland.

Yes crows are relentless predators and their numbers largely uncontrolled these days thanks to Chris Packham's interference in general licensing. They and the rest of the corvid family are partly responsible for the decimation of song birds in the UK.
The rspb try to control them but fighting a losing battle.

Stone the crows . 😱

I've seen a dive-boming by different types of corvids together. A cat had taken (probably) a baby jackdaw. The rage was extraordinary. Every time the outrage and noise showed signs of dying down a little, one crow high in a tree would start shouting and egging them all on again. It lasted at least 20 minutes.

😂

Our garden borders a farmer's field with sheep in. I've seen the crows attacking the new born lambs. I have hated crows ever since.
I know it's nature, but I still try to scare them off when I see them doing it.

Don’t worry about any mess, leave it for a few hours and every last scrap will be gone, including the feathers. Nature is both resourceful and thrifty!

We have Red Kites aplenty here, and the only birds that will chase them around are the corvids. Incredible intelligent birds and yes they absolutely do hold a grudge and pass it down the generations. My kids always stop and give them a little bow if they are on the path, I always try and say hello! Sounds mad I know, but they really are remarkable.

It’s horrible to witness a bird attack, but best left alone. This is how nature works.

It had an account and has been posting