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?!

Bring a peace offering

fascinating thread!

Several years ago DH started feeding an injured baby seagull that had fallen and landed on our roof while it's parents watched nervously nearby. We'd throw food up to it.

Ever since then those original parents and their various offspring bring their babies to the roof and call out to DH for their breakfast. It's been a good 10 years now and we know the original gull because when it fell it must have had some neurological damage because he has a head tic by which we can recognise him. DH goes around the garden chattering to them and they often fly from branch to branch in the trees (like robins do!) to chat with him while he weeds etc. So they have definitely recognised him as a Good Human and have passed that down the generations. He gets a kick out of the fact he can walk out the back door and call out; 'Harry!' and his seagulls fly to him.

There is a fascinating ted talk about the crow research team at (possibly) Harvard. The member would net some birds to use in behavioural experiments. The flock would of course then recognise the people who caught their comrades and start targeting them. This went on for YEARS, when the people returned for reunions after graduation THEY STILL GOT ATTACKED even if they were wearing different clothes.

The research team still runs but the members have to done pretty extreme disguises (including masks with mustaches and glasses) so they aren't recognised day to day.

If your husband is successful today with your dog then you should make an effort to change your shape when you next go. Different shaped coat, different shoes, big hat perhaps and wrap a fluffy scarf around your neck or similar. It might work. Maybe use your new persona to feed the crows then slowly strip off to reveal the real (evil) you when you have gained their friendship.

Here it is

I'm so glad to have found this thread. It's truly fascinating. Although I am sorry for your predicament OP.

I would throw something out for the birds everyday, crumbs, seeds etc scattered on the side lawn when I first moved into my house. This was from around 13 years ago.

We have magpies nesting on the flat roofs of the houses and you can hear them communicate from the roofs of various house numbers on the street.

I started to notice that when I went out breadless (during my divorce I'd have a stealth cigarette at 6am, or on pleasant mornings take out my coffee and phone for some early morning peace) a pair of the magpies would March to the end of the roof with a view over my garden and start squawking really loudly.

I said to my son, I think they're annoyed with me and telling me off because I didn't put any food out when I came out. He thought I was mad, as did everyone I told. But it happened over and over again.

So I'd be rummaging around to find anything - cheerios, rice krispies etc if I was caught short. I ended up with industrial sized bird seed bags. 😂

Then after throwing out the food they'd come back and still complain. I think it was because I was outside and they wanted to bring the entire flock down to feed safely.

So I had to put out food then go inside until they were finished. 😂

After about 3 or 4 years if I had a lie in on a Sunday they'd come and tap on the skylight on the landing roof until I got up and fed them.

People thought I was utterly deluded, until I started sharing videos. Then as it was in line with the timing of GOT I got given the name Mother of Magpies by a friend and it stuck. 😂😂😂

There's also a famous video I think from Turkey, where a cat steals a bone from a crow and they come to the balcony everyday to shout at the cat. I'll see if I can find it.

Just here to say that this reply made me involuntarily snort with laughter next to sleeping DH.

Shamelessly place marking for this update!

You can make amends with food suggestions but you mustn't let them down if you start feeding them then stop. They will be waiting for you at work outside the gym everywhere.

@QueenMegan Well that's a terrifying thought. I'll never look at a crow the same way again.

I've also just watched the Schitts Creek episode where the crows started swooping down and attacking the crowd after being released from a box. Doesn't seem so far fetched now, they were probably pissed at being enclosed.

My mother used to feed the crows in our field behind the house every morning at 7. You could see them gathering in the trees a few minutes before that. When they saw her, they would fly around her, waiting for her to put the food on the ground. They regularly left her presents too.

One day my mother was ill, and she asked me to feed the crows. They were already gathered in the trees, but me bringing the food obviously confused them, so they didn't come while I was still there. I left the food at the usual spot, and left. From a safe distance I watched a single crow cone to inspect the food before the others came to eat. The next day the crows were already coming closer when I brought the food. By day 3 they had accepted me as my mother's substitute. They even left me a few gifts. A few months later, my mother was ill again, so I went to feed the crows again. They didn't hesitate to come to me this time, so they must have remembered me.

I love crows, and I am trying to befriend them where I live now.

@CagneyAndLazy look up crow funerals, specifically Kaeli Swift's Corvid Research.

Actually, everyone here loving crows should check out Kaeli's Swift's work, she's pretty cool. Loving this thread, nice to read from fellow crow lovers.

I really want a pet crow. I'm trying to befriend one that visits the tree across the road but not managed it yet.

I want to reincarnate as a crow now, intelligent, holds grudges and lives by the thug life rules. I’m off to research the suggestions

I had no idea crows did this, it’s fascinating!, it’s mainly seagulls where I live so crows would be preferable!

Fascinating thread. I have been feeding the birds for years and years (I get all manner of birds, including parakeets), can’t say I have received any presents though. What sort of things have people been given? Any treasure, like in The Detectorists?!

My mum used to feed the crows in the woods behind the house when walking the dogs. They knew her and the dogs, and so when one time I went with the dogs they recognised them and started calling to each other and appearing everywhere. I hadn't taken food so they followed us a bit and then gave up. No crow hatred for me. So maybe worth starting off feeding them then giving up once they're appeased. They've obviously marked you as a threat, like when they attack the poor birds of prey and follow them for miles...

Might have already been suggested, but what about putting on one of those Boris Johnson masks?

Then again that could make it worse. David Attenborough would be a better look if you can get him, or the late Queen.

Corvids are incredibly clever animals.

This is golden! What a start to the New Year. My mind is blown and I can't wait to see what happens.

😂

Dress up as a scarecrow. How scary for you. You could take an umbrella to use as a shield.

We have swifts in our stables (I’m sure it’s them and not swallows) anyhow every year they return and nest and we’ve been here 5 years.

The problem was our cat went after their babies the first year we were here when they were learning to fly. It was awful and he killed a few of them.

They have now changed their position of the nests so he can’t walk along the stable beams but EVERY single year they all (4 pairs) dive bomb his head in the stable yard.

They don’t bother me (they could see if I was out there and saw him stalking I’d bring him inside) or my two other cats.

He has to run and hide under things to get across the yard. To be fair, it’s stopped him going after them and his attention has turned to rabbits which he catches now and eats (given we have horses and they dig holes which can break our horses legs and I have to fill back in) I leave him to it.

So I wonder if it also applies to these birds too. They are beautiful and every year since they started their organised attacks he has not ventured to their nests.

They are super clever birds.

Incidentally sometimes one falls out of the nest and I put gloves on and return it. Should I do that? I just worry as I have to bring my horses in and don’t want them trod on.

For a good compare-contrast to the intelligence of crows versus other animals, read Franz de Waal’s « Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? »

So what will happen if OP gives them lots of treats, then they become friends ...and then she stops. Will OP become the enemy again?

Brilliant thread, I'm here for the update too!

The neighbour's Maine Coon almost caught a baby magpie last year and, my God, the noise! Ever since then there's a huge racket when his furry face appears in the garden.

They used to have an elderly Persian cat who liked to sunbathe. Whenever he did, the magpies would creep up on him and peck his tail.

Corvids are highly intelligent creatures. I'd dump the dog and make friends with the crows if I were you.