Crows

[roscoe erf]

I honestly did not understand your earlier post which started "look"
am I wrong in thinking although all are corvids, the Crow/rook/raven/jackdaw are all quite diffrent?
Jackdaws we seldom see except in the towns, I have never seen a rook or a raven in my locality.
I have seen rookerys,outside my localle, and as I said, these crows behave in the same way, there are hundreds at dusk I wasnt sure what a collection of crows this big was called when roosting together.

no they are related but are different but are all members of the crow family which include magpies jay and chough i am sure a collection of crows is a murder regardless of size

 

[Dave6170]

Im sure we call a wood where crows go to roost at night a rookery.

 

[roscoe erf]

Im sure we call a wood where crows go to roost at night a rookery.

i think that's right where they nest is called a rookery but i could be wrong

 

[Dave6170]

We re giving them a blast this comin week! young ones are just coming out onto branches and there are no leaves on the trees yet!

 

[roscoe erf]

We re giving them a blast this comin week! young ones are just coming out onto branches and there are no leaves on the trees yet!

we had a nest of magpies ,they drive me crazy with their constant cackling,near the house so i got the chain saw and cut the tree down got the young ones 7 in the nest and they have not been back since.

 

[sandamho]

We had mixy on the island last summer so there's a scarcity of rabbits about. The hoodie crows have taken to pecking out ewes' eyes as they are trying to lamb. Hanging dead crows on the fence has not deterred them at all. They're brazen. I'm going to knock up a funnel trap.

 

[IANTO]

We had mixy on the island last summer so there's a scarcity of rabbits about. The hoodie crows have taken to pecking out ewes' eyes as they are trying to lamb. Hanging dead crows on the fence has not deterred them at all. They're brazen. I'm going to knock up a funnel trap.

I take it before Mixy they were not a problem.

Personally I don't mind a pair of Carrion Crows or Ravens nesting on the land. They chase away the Magpies and Rooks, and do not appear to do much damage. We used to have a Rookery, but shooting thinned their numbers, and when the Carrion Crows began nesting nearby, the Rooks left.

 

[Dave6170]

Every carrion or hoodie nest we see we put both barrels with no.2s up its arse! most ruthless birds around!

 

[IANTO]

Every carrion or hoodie nest we see we put both barrels with no.2s up its arse! most ruthless birds around!

We have a lot of smallholdings with woodland in the area, owned by people seeking the good-life. Do not believe in killing anything.

A neighbouring farm used to have a nature trail, and again would let Rooks and Magpies breed un-checked.

A few years ago, tried growing Barley in one field. It was black with rooks and jackdaws, and they ate most of the seed.

You could not near them with a Gun, and they soon got used to the Banger.

Since a pair of Peregrines and a pair of Ravens have nested in a disused Quarry, and I have left a pair of Carrion Crows in peace, there are a lot less Jackdaws and Rooks around, or at least they stay away from my land.

 

[Flossie]

Im sure we call a wood where crows go to roost at night a rookery.

Think you're right with that There's a farm near us called Crow Trees Farm and the house next to it is called The Rookery

 

[snowhite]

Think you're right with that There's a farm near us called Crow Trees Farm and the house next to it is called The Rookery

we call a rookery to a house that is falling down

 

[IANTO]

Think you're right with that There's a farm near us called Crow Trees Farm and the house next to it is called The Rookery

Crows and Ravens are solitary as a Rule, although they may congregate in Roosts during the Winter Months. Rooks (and Jackdaws) are Gregarious and nest together in Rookeries.

These days most people label any large black bird a Crow. They do not know that there are six different species of Corvidae in the UK (excluding Jays and Magpies).

Jackdaws - a bloody nuisance everywhere. As bad as Magpies for robbing nests, and taking fledglings of other species.
Rooks - Omnivorous. Diet is mainly earthworms and Insect Larvae - do a lot of good, but what good they do is less than the damage to other bird species and arable land, particularly for cereal growers.
Ravens - Less numbers than Rooks, but of a similar nature and diet.
Carrion Crow - While it is omnivorous like all corvidae, it is mainly a scavenger and carrion eater. It is considered to be one of the most intelligent of birds, and Rules on Carcase Disposal, together with the increased competition from the Red Kite (at least in Wales may be forcing it to change its habits).
Hooded Crow - a Sub Species of the Carrion Crow, which I have only seen in NI, Scotland and the IOM.
Choughs - The Red Billed and Red Legged Crow that is extremely rare. Figures suggest that in the British Isles, there are less than 500 breeding pairs, with a further 1000 or so pairs in the Irish Republic. The most innocuous of the Corvidae, lives on inspects and spiders etc. I am lucky enough to have some pairs fairly local to me, and their courtship displays are worth seeing.

90% of the Public believe that Rook, is simply another name for Crow.

 

[llamedos]

Well we must do well for Chough then, see them on the moor.
And despite what is said between the crow and the rook, hundreds of the buggers appeared last night, crows that is.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

It there a way to deter them, without resorting to loud noises?
Across the valley from me there is the crow equivilent of a rookery?? Hundreds of them turn up at nightfall, but before they go off to their roost they have taken to landing on the field where my flock are settling and plucking great lumps of wool off the sheeps backs as well as sh*tting all over the place, not seen this before with crows, the odd maggy yes, but around 50 at a time are landing There is nothing else for them to eat, they arnt turning the sheep muck for beetles, just wool plucking.

Shoot the vermin they cost farming millions

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Shoot then till no more

 

[roscoe erf]

Shoot then till no more

ok ok we get it you want to shoot all the vermin..

 

[Exfarmer]

I have never seen large numbers of crows roost together
Rooks and jackdaws often do
Crows tend to be solitary or live in that seasons family group of up to 5.
No experience of ravens.
But crow numbers have increased dramatically in the last few years with less emphasis on keepering
Most farmers would have been out now a few years ago and taken all their nests out.
We had a neighbour killed when I was a child, he climbed a tree to destroy a nest and the the branch gave way!

 

[Fish]

To move crows on, shoot one or three, then tare them up, head here, wing there, feet someplace else and stick the feathers in the ground, it scares the hell out of them. Hanging a dead one up or using bangers is a wast of time.

To shoot crows you need decoys, a decoy owl or best of all a dead fox.

 

[llamedos]

I have never seen large numbers of crows roost together
Rooks and jackdaws often do
Crows tend to be solitary or live in that seasons family group of up to 5.
No experience of ravens.
But crow numbers have increased dramatically in the last few years with less emphasis on keepering
Most farmers would have been out now a few years ago and taken all their nests out.
We had a neighbour killed when I was a child, he climbed a tree to destroy a nest and the the branch gave way!

Steve, for the last couple of nights I have tried to get a picture of this lot, and failed miserably, as soon as they spot anything untoward the lot lift and are away, I will be patient.
As I said earlier, jackdaws(silver back of head) we rarely see here, they seem to prefere our towns.
I have never seen a rook locally, never.
Crows, at the old place, same as you say in groups of up to 5/6 rarely did damage, just turned over muck piles bug hunting would steal a bit of the chicken or goose feed.
If this lot are not crows, I will hold my hand up and admit a wrong, are young rooks all black? or young jackdaws perhaps?
They start coming in from all around, about half hour before roosting, the sky is full of them, they drop to the high point of the field, if the sheep are there they wool pluck, if not they just land on the field then make their way to the nearby woods to roost. Hundreds.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

To move crows on, shoot one or three, then tare them up, head here, wing there, feet someplace else and stick the feathers in the ground, it scares the hell out of them. Hanging a dead one up or using bangers is a wast of time.

To shoot crows you need decoys, a decoy owl or best of all a dead fox.

If you move them on they will come to me and peck my bales, shoot them and it's done with