# Crows!?



## fOrKyAnDpRoUd (Sep 29, 2013)

I was waiting for my shift to start in the parking lot and i saw these crows walking around a car. They were staring at it so i figured they liked the color. 

What i saw next was so cool: They were grabbing bugs out of the grill! I took a few pics because they are so smart! They did this to a few more cars but i had to leave lol

Has anyone seen this before? Or at least other examples of how cool they are!


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## LisaTurtle (Sep 29, 2013)

Lol gross! They are very smart tho. I've seen a crow pick up a nut (still in the shell), fly up high and drop it down onto the concrete over and over until the shell broke and then he ate the nut inside.


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## ascott (Sep 29, 2013)

That sure looks like a Grackle....?????


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## fOrKyAnDpRoUd (Sep 29, 2013)

Whats that? Im not real good with birds so i figured a black one is a crow lol

Does this mean they are both smart? Or is one smarter?


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## ascott (Sep 29, 2013)

http://www.jrcompton.com/photos/The_Birds/J/April-07jpix/JR75580-grackle-over.jpg

Here is a good pic of a grackle ....it shows clearly that from a distance they can easily be mistaken for a crow...

http://www.birdwatchersgeneralstore.com/CrowsGrackles.htm


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## Laura (Sep 29, 2013)

looks grackle-ish to me too.


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## ascott (Sep 29, 2013)

Yup...the longer stick type legs ..the longer tail and eye color...


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## fOrKyAnDpRoUd (Sep 30, 2013)

Yeah youre right!
My mistake. I sure can see that crows look chubby compared to grackles lol


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## Kapidolo Farms (Sep 30, 2013)

You know when you see many small not so distinct brown birds, and wonder what they are? Bird watchers call them LBJ's, it means little brown jobs.

In parking lots I have seen LBJ's hang out in trees and with each new car that pulls in they flock the front grill, for insects.

This is very common, though I have not seen those guys do it before.

Good identification of the insect harvest, no matter that you made a very common misidentification of the bird species. 

It is always interesting to see adaptive behavior in wildlife. Hundredth monkey kind of stuff.

Will


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## ascott (Sep 30, 2013)

> Good identification of the insect harvest, no matter that you made a _very common misidentification_ of the bird species.



Will is correct here....just wanted to offer you up another bird you can readily id for future reference


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## Kapidolo Farms (Sep 30, 2013)

In Big Bend National Park, I saw a crow turn a water spigot on. Not much it just started to drip. I did not figure for the life of me, why the crow was fooling with the facet. It took several minutes of struggle, then the spigot began to drip. Could have been a raven, but I think it was a crow. After the big black bird flew away, several jays came along for their drink, then they bounded off, and many LBJ's rushed in. The whole procession took about an hour from the crow landing on the spigot to the LBJ's flying off after their fill of water. Watching this kind of thing is very inspiring.

The radiator insects and birds harvesting them is often why I'll be happy to sit in the car while my wife goes into a store for a one or two item shopping expedition. 

Tortoises do interesting things too. Adaptive and playful, left to their own they are very interesting animals. My observations in the wild in terms of hours is greatest with Eastern Box turtles. They can be very engaging from about 20 feet away, when they decide you are not a predator, or they loose sight of you through your own still behavior sitting or standing. Individuals or groups in outdoor pens soon figure it out from repeated exposure to your presence that you are not a threat, and go about their day too.

Just something about those individuals not bound by an enclosure makes the observations feel more visceral, LBJ's, grackles, crows, or Box Turtles. Maybe there is a little voyeur in all of us?

Will


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## ascott (Sep 30, 2013)

> I saw a crow turn a water spigot on.



LOL..Will, here in the High Desert we have Ravens (the crows would be eaten by the ravens...cute _little_ birds ) and they are huge...well, there is a tree on the next property to mine where the ravens like to nest--it is awesome to watch the elders teach the youngins how to fly, dive and hunt on the ground and from the air---well, as interesting as it is to watch them....they do watch us.

I have a routine of watering the torts and filling this huge mostly flat concrete water trough every day---had to do this to keep the ravens from dropping into the tortoise enclosures to gain access to their water dishes...so anyways....there were what seemed like the same two ravens that would swoop down onto the fence along side of where I was and they would appear to intently be watching me..kinda like I watched them...so I did my thing and walked away....as I was on the porch I heard something that caused my attention to go back to the faucet...here was they were---one was bouncing up and down on the handle of the faucet and the other was waiting at the end of the hose....both just convinced they were going to do what I had....I always close off the faucet tight so not going to happen, but it was clear as to their intent...they are smart, great predator and scavenger--one of natures most perfect creations......even watched them dunk hard bread into water and sit and watch is soak then pull it out in time to eat it easily...talk about dunk n donut....lol....


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## fOrKyAnDpRoUd (Sep 30, 2013)

I knew animals adapted but i figured it was over many generations and such. certain mutations helped them survive and things they learned were taught and kept getting improved over time.
What i didnt know was that it happened so fast. i always pictured animals changing over thousands or billions of years- not hundreds! Unless certain things are passed on faster? Im not sure... but im gettin my nerd on


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## ascott (Sep 30, 2013)

Get your nerd on every opportunity given....


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