Crow Burying Food

[smurfchops]

I have seen crows in the garden soak the dry bread which I throw out, in the bird bath. How clever. Today I saw one actually bury some hard crumbs from my old quiche ! Why ?? And don't say he didn't like the quiche cost it was very tasty !

[Robinia]

I said the same thing only recently on here...he's simply saving it for later :)

[smurfchops]

I thought only squirrels did that ! It's funny cos he flew away with another mouthful when I tapped on the window ( I like the other birds to get their share). He didn't come back for any more and there was plenty left. At least resident robin had some aah.

[viv38]

I've never seen crows do this smurf, clever little beggars aren't they ?

[heathfield]

RSPB has an article on it...

https://www.rspb.org.uk/community/wildlife/b/notesonnature/archive/2011/10/14/this-weekend-watch-out-for-caching-corvids.aspx

[Robinia]

Scrivens I saw exactly the opposite thing happen. I watched a squirrel take nuts from the bird feeder and bury them one by one all over my lawn....followed closely by a crow who pecked them all out and ate them! The squirrel didn't seem to notice, it was so funny....One of those moments when I wished I'd had a video camera handy.

[jomifl]

Experimenters have found that when corvids bury food they rember exactly where it is hidden. A magpie used to bury food quite regularly in our garden and would stuff the food between tussocks of grass, pick up a piece of moss, place it over the food then step back to admire it's handiwork. If not satifactory it would be adjusted until it was. Needless to say this activity wasn't missed by the other garden inhabitants.

[heathfield]

Saw a TV program on ravens up in Aviemore showing them burying food. If they thought they were being watched by other ravens, they'd only pretend to bury the food, then sneak off and hide it elsewhere!

[jomifl]

^ :o)