To be scared that I’m still marked by the crows?

[ChoccyOrangeYum]

A couple of years ago I walked the dog on a local field. I know nothing about birds but I was later told it was their breeding season.

Anyway we must have got too close to their nests as they suddenly started flying around irrationally, making a hell of a racket screaming etc and then started dive bombing the dog. The dog thought this was fun so started chasing the crows. All hell broke loose basically and we were suddenly surrounded by crows going mental. We made a quick exit!!

I left it a few days then took the dog back on the field but after speaking to locals about the crows I stayed away from the back of the field (where they’re breeding) and kept dog in lead. As soon as we stepped on the field the noise started up again and the crows appeared and started dive bombing again! There was someone else on the field with a dog who the crows were totally ignoring!

We left and after a bit of research I found that crows remember faces and don’t forgive easily 😬 so we didn’t go back on.

A whole year later we went back on assuming the old crows won’t be there anymore but we were on there 5 minutes before it all started again. These birds are not bothering anyone else on the field, just me!!

Anyway my neighbour has suggested we go for a walk in the field tomorrow morning but I’m shit scared of the birds. Will they still go for me if I don’t have the dog?! Will they ever move on from the incident 2 years ago or am I banned from the field for life?!

Upward peckers is half the problem

It is sad when predation happens. We have sparrow hawks that regularly take small birds, how we would all be up to our neck in blue tits if there were no,predators. And however horrible some animals seem, they're nothing like as awful as Homo sapiens.

And sadly for everything else on the planet, we have offed our own predators and now are killing all the other stuff (including ourselves but probably too slowly to be of benefit)

That's right!

Twats!

I'll desperately hang onto NABALT.

There is little enough to grasp to keep our sanity . . .

We can all get one. This popped up on my FB today - is my iPhone linked to the crows?

https://youtube.com/shorts/YsBHcMbcO3M?si=xrST1D30pwV29Tj8

I wonder if ‘Walter’ had the same fate as the OP

That's remarkable! They are mimics too? Is there no end to their (scary) talents?

Whatever you do, don't look up "human scarecrow" on Youtube. I fear this is OP's fate 😱

I once said "hello" to a chough at Birdworld (I think) and got a shock when it said "hello" right back.

We're nearly full up on here!

This thread has taken a dark turn! We've gone from clever corvids recognising people and bringing presents, to bird and animal rape, pillaging, and murder.

A crow (or raven?) to lighten the mood

@Emotionalsupportviper this is especially for you. A mouse tidying up a man’s shed.Tidy Mouse

Doesn't look big enough for a raven - they are MASSIVE.

Aussie ravens may be smaller, though, so I don't know.

It was a lovely little video, though.

I would like to state, though, that Walter is a pigeon's name.

A Raven should be called "Quoth".

Probably.

Or Edgar, at the very least. I agree, it's a crow. I don't know how she can shut the door on his little beak.

Before this thread fills up, let’s take a moment to remember Choccy (may she RIP). Thanks all for the laughs and Corvid info.

I almost "squeeeeed"!

Thank you for this lovely bit of film.

Yes - Edgar would be suitable.

Even for a crow.

Edgar Allan Crow has a ring to it.

And I would have him sitting on a perch in the living room watching telly and eating crisps with me, even if it cost me a fortune in newspapers to cover the floor.

<bows head>

May she rest in pieces.

SO long, @ChoccyOrangeYum . And thanks for all the crows.

Crows can remember faces (aka hold a grudge). A group of scientists conducted a study in which they wore masks while capturing and banding groups of crows. The crows learned to recognize the mask as a danger and would scold the person in the mask upon encountering them. Crows that hadn't encountered the mask started scolding as well. Over a five year period, the scolding doubled in frequency and spread almost a mile from the place of origin. Read more about this study on social learning in American Crow

Amen to that
I'm certain those crows are very fond if chocolate.

I have nominated this lovely thread for classics x

Me too @Whydowomendothistothemselves

It has been a joy.

@Whydowomendothistothemselves and @NewtonPulsifer thank you for that, heartily thirded here 🤗

I have genuinely been noticing more crows living near me. Am sure they were always there but I've been touched by the Choccy effect. Am hearing the Tango ad strapline, "You know when you've been Choccy'd".

I predict bits of this thread will live rent free in my head forevermore...

As we are talking about crows. We had a crow in my neighbourhood for about 10 years that had a weird call that sounded like a cross between a seal and a squeaky dog toy - everyone was quite fond of it. I also had a crow that had trained me to put a titbit out for it when it came and sat in our apple tree calling to me. Sadly last year we had bird flu in our area and they both disappeared. We still get crows in our garden but they are a lot more nervous of us than those two.