AIBU to feel guilty for not stopping a crow?

[AliceNotInChains]

Just seen a crow attacking a black bird nest down our driveway, all the black birds where dive bombing it and it didn’t care, it managed to pull a baby bird out of the nest, crow and baby fell onto driveway and crow was them divebombed by around 7 blackbirds 😱 it was throwing the baby around in the air, it was awful. I stopped watching but I’m assuming it got away with the baby. Now I feel guilty - I could have gone out and stopped it but I didn’t - it’s nature isn’t it 😞 would you have intervened?

Give them some scraps, they like pork! Maybe get them onside. Become buddies

Crows are horrible, they peck the eyes out of lambs if they are away from the sheep. Sometimes the lamb is left alive in agony with no options for the farmer. Crofters here have a real problem with them.

Jesus Christ!! 😱 that’s horrendous

is it true they go for the eyes if they attack humans? I’m bloody glad I didn’t interfere earlier!

ill tell my sister not to interfere if the same happens in her garden.

Never heard of this in nearly ten years living in a rural area. Farmers were much more concerned about unleashed dogs, thieves, and sinkholes on the sheep farm!

Well you couldn't have saved the baby blackbird even if you had chased the crow off. It wouldn't survive out of the nest unless it was virtually ready to fledge. The only time I have ever felt sorry for a rat was one being dive-bombed by three crows. I didn't hang around to see if it got away but it didn't look like it would.

Oh yes, nature is so cruel. Not too long ago I witnessed a sparrowhawk murder a blackbird in my garden - it was horrific. It was standing on the poor thing and plucking out its feathers while it was still alive 😪. The blackbird was squawking and making a horrific noise but was completely pinned down unable to move. I did try and shoe the sparrowhawk away - it did hop off the blackbird who was clearly half dead, then grabbed the poor thing and flew off with it in its claws. In hindsight I reflected and thought i shouldn't have intervened purely because it's probably best to let the prey be finished off quickly rather than be left to die slowly. It also probably sounds a bit shallow but I was glad I didn't have the messy aftermath to deal with in my garden

@AliceNotInChains yes all true about crows. Crows are fascinating and if your dc ever has to pick an animal to do a report on always pick crows. So many interesting characteristics

In have witnessed a crow tribunal. From inside the house.

Some crows in Japan have been known to drop nuts with shells on roads so the traffic will crush the shells. The crows then fly down to retrieve the nuts. That's not all - some crows then started doing this at pedestrian crossings. They would drop the nuts when the light was red, then waited til the light was green (and the cars had stopped) to go down for the nuts.

Always help out a crow, or at least remain firmly in their side.

Sorry about the baby blackbirds but this thread is one of the most entertaining I've read in a long time. Especially the poster who suspects some of it is written by crows themselves

Was just going to say that. You do not mess with crows, they hold grudges . It would have remembered. Have a google it’s fascinating. They are so clever.

It had an account and has been posting

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.

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.

😂

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.

Stone the crows . 😱

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.

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.

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

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]]]]

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.

What would he do?

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

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.

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.