Squawking Crows

[tiggerblue10]

I've got my window open and I'm trying to work (on a break) but over the last hour or so all I can hear is constant crows squawking. Usually all I hear is birds tweeting but today the crows are at it! Does this mean anything?

[barry1010]

Predator in the area, buzzard, sparrowhawk maybe

[MartinMillar]

The last time that happened at my house it was because Brice had caught one

[tiggerblue10]

Do you get lots of buzzards and sparrowhawks in built up areas? I don't know much about birds.

There are loads of cats around here.

[barry1010]

I've seen sparrowhawk catch pigeon in the middle of Birmingham on a busy Saturday. Two years ago red kites moved in to the area for the first time and are now seen regularly. Buzzards are everywhere

[wolf63]

I get mainly Gulls but they must be huge Gulls as it sounds like a herd of Elephants running over the metal flat bathroom roof.

Sticking your head out the window to ask them to "shut the fekk up" doesn't really work either.

Wee Brice sounds feisty

[tiggerblue10]

Well the noise has now stopped thankfully. Always reminds me of historical dramas where an execution has taken place!

[MartinMillar]

There is nothing wee about Brice apart from his name!
He is a monster who can hunt despite now wearing a bell

[Chipchopper]

I hear then a lot in my garden, often chasing a buzzard away from their nests.

[The Builder]

Crows tend to be more solitary, Tigger. What you have are probably rooks. Same racket though ;o(

It doesn't take much to set them off. They just seem to like being gobby ;o)

[tiggerblue10]

I need to look up what rooks look like, Builder and the difference between them and crows. I find crows a bit scary.

[Barmaid]

I'd hazard a guess at Jackdaws. You tend to get them round chimneys a lot.

They are fledging at the moment here. They start at about 4am and squawk all day. How I haven't gone out with the gun, I do not know. Raiding the song thrush's nest yesterday did not endear them to me much either.

Although (like most corvids) they are extremely intelligent.

[Chipchopper]

Rooks have pale grey beaks, which extend back to the head, crows are all black, but are about the same size.
A couple of weeks ago I saw dozens of crows squawking which is known as a "Murder"

[Chipchopper]

I should add that, the closely related, "Hooded crow" replaces the carrion crow in some places, and has a grey body, with a black head and wings.