u/bk845

We're back to ground feeding somehow, since my crows refuse to acknowledge the existence of the feeding platform. It's as if they're saying "the old ways are the best". My pair of crows showed up with their fledglings a few weeks ago, and have been subsisting on the unshelled, unsalted peanuts I scatter around, while the grackles, blue jays, and woodpeckers have been dining like kings and queens on the good food (cashews) on the feeder, uncontested.

I gave in today, and put some better food on the ground for the crows (some leftover salmon). As with all things in life, the crows make the rules.

This ancient oak tree is over 17 feet in circumference, and sadly in decline. Banana for scale.

I'm posting this mainly for the audio (which includes a crow rattle towards the end) and mainly involves fledgling related chaos. Somehow my 2 regular crow visitors have turned into 8 guests, and I've completely lost track of who's who.

I got this cool crow themed tarot deck for my birthday, and figured it would be appreciated here🐦‍⬛

At long last, my pair of crows, Brutus and Portia, brought their fledglings for their debut on the crow cam! There are three of them, which seems like a pretty good brood. I'm still waiting for them to tell me their names.

In other news, the mockingbird family has finally moved on, which is probably why the crows felt it was safe to visit with the sprogs this morning.

Can't a bro just open his puzzle box and eat some cashews in peace?!?

I don't know if Boris is displaying his intelligence or sheer determination, but one of the quail's eggs I put out became trapped under one of the plastic containers I use to cover their food. Boris made several attempts to remove the cover, but it's quite difficult to pick up when it's not on a food plate. This went on for some minutes, all while under the baleful gaze of the nesting mockingbirds (who have been harassing him nearly nonstop). How to get the quail's egg? Well, he never gave up and his dedication was rewarded. Here's the moment of victory!

We've had some unwelcome neighbors move in, because they are constantly bothering my poor crows. Bros have never once stolen an egg, and are innocent of all charges! It was some other bird I'm certain, and this harassment is unwarranted! Mockingbirds will be hearing from Bros' lawyers!

I mentioned in my post yesterday how getting my crows to accept treats from a puzzle box was the end game I've been training them for, and Brutus is now able to operate this purple box (with a simple lid) with ruthless efficiency.

It's really helpful to keep the grackles and blue jays from snaffling the treats. Now I need to train the crows to put the lid back on between snacks!

EDIT: Thanks for the award, stranger!

Early on in my crow studies, I bought these present shaped dog treat puzzle boxes, since I'd seen someone else here use them with their crows. That was about a year ago, but I quickly realized I would need to gain their trust first. I built the table feeder, and set up the Crow Cam, and fed my bros a steady diet of ground beef, salmon, and cashews over the winter, all with this end game in mind.

Sadly, the orange one (which has a hinged lid) proved too challenging and scary, since Brutus gave up and flew away. Stay tuned for Part 2!

My intrepid crows still make it to the feeder on the rainiest days.

Brutus is enjoying mid-morning snack, picking out the cashews hidden in the pile of mealworms, when Portia arrives, shaking off the rain. She patiently waits her turn for the cashews (her absolute favorite) finding an opportunity when Brutus heads off to stash some away for later (like he doesn't get enough already). Portia makes the most of her chance, and very nearly retrieves an errant ballistic cashew before DH returns, but Brutus bullies her away.

Still haven't seen any fledglings yet, but I guess they're going to need to be adept at flying before visiting the feeder, since the nest isn't nearby.

Brutus and Portia are here together, so whatever fledglings they have must be semi ok on their own. I still haven't seen any, since I think their nest is about half a mile away. I'm hoping to see them later this summer, but maybe they want to keep their snack source a secret from the kids?

They are finishing off mid morning snack, with just some mealworms left (the cashews are long gone). It's very hot as you can see, since they are both panting.

Here's a typical squirrel/feeding table encounter, with the squirrel being foiled by the cylindrical baffle around the post. It works!

It should work for racoons too, but I've never seen them at this feeder at night (and I take the feeding table off at night to make it less interesting to bears...it doesn't deter bears!)

I saw my friend Brutus flying low with something the size of a sausage, which he stuck into my front lawn and covered with some tufts of grass. He's buried food that I've provided in the past, but this was the first time I saw him store some takeaway. I took a closer look a bit later, and found a small paw sticking out from underneath the camouflage. Apparently he found a dead baby bunny and decided that my lawn was the perfect place to stash it. I hope he comes back for it before I have to mow!

Shortly before my investigation, I saw him flying back in the direction of his nest with a similar payload. The fam is eating well tonight I guess!

I'm wondering if he found deceased bunnies, or if he killed them himself, but there's no way to know that short of a lagomorph autopsy.

Brutus is on his third snack run of the afternoon, gathering some mealworms to bring back to the clan.

I haven't seen Brutus and Portia together at the feeder for about three weeks, and I assume that means they're nesting. Brutus has been a frequent visitor, while Portia very rarely visits (not even daily, from what I've captured on video).

They both made a brief appearance this morning, with Brutus grabbing a few mouthfuls of wet cat food to go, and Portia taking a longer break. Do they ever leave the nestlings unguarded? I don't know exactly where the nest is, but after some reconnoitering in the direction that they fly to, I think it's a little under half a mile away...er...as the crow flies.

Are they allowed to do this? Is this bad parenting? Do I need to report them to the Department of Crowcial Services?