Smart Bird.

I have two bird tables at my house, one at the front which I can see from my living room, and one at the side observable from my office. They were built for the benefit of the small birds – sparrows, robins, chaffinches etc – which live in and around the garden, and I gather that after a while they become an essential resource for such birds. That’s why the experts say you shouldn’t stop feeding them, and certainly not during cold weather.

But this year my tables have been discovered by other, bigger birds which come in for an easy feed from the surrounding countryside. They include two cock pheasants, three hen pheasants, a flock of five jackdaws, and an indeterminate number of wood pigeons. There are also at least three squirrels which have taken to making regular forays to the food bank and eating rather more than the small birds do. The result is that I am now having to re-stock the tables several times a day and am spending an amount on seed, rolled oats and peanuts roughly equivalent to what I spend on my own provisions.

Today I had two new visitors: a pair of rooks. The rook is a sister sub-species to the common carrion crow, and is alike in all respects except for the fact that it has a white beak. And they’re smart; being smart is what crows are known for, and here’s an example.

Each table has a water bowl on it. They’re made of metal because that makes them easier to de-ice on cold mornings than ceramic bowls. But they’re also lightweight, which means that if one of the bigger birds steps on it – which they have an irritating habit of doing – the bowl will upset and usually fall to the ground. It happens a lot.

Today I watched as a rook placed its foot carefully on the water bowl, and when the bowl began to tip, it took its foot back off again. That’s smart, and that’s why crows have a high reputation with bird lovers who like smart birds.