Murder(s) of crows!

Chisler2

I drove from Dublin to Ballina on Tuesday and was struck by the number of murders of crows at the roadside, pecking at know-not-what. There were so many, and so lethargic they barely lifted as cars reached them.


On reaching destination on the slopes of Nephin Mor the sky for the past couple of days seemed to erupt every hour or so with large, noisy groups.



The shift in the weather aside, are there other reasons why the crow has become so ubiquitous?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Around here, a lot of grain and feed is being moved by farmers in open trailers so there is much spillage along the road verges for crows.


Ground has also been recently tilled and that always attracts large numbers of them'.

Chisler2

Konnor Polite Ladyfinger wrote: »

Around here, a lot of grain and feed is being moved by farmers in open trailers so there is much spillage along the road verges for crows.


Ground has also been recently tilled and that always attracts large numbers of them'.

Thanks Konnor Polite Ladyfinger...........makes sense though I would not have thought the margins of N5 would have much to offer them.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

An additional factor at the moment is that birds need grit to aid digestion and salt for electrolyte balance so they often take advantage of the roads being gritted.

Westernyelp

Chisler2 wrote:

Thanks Srameen...........makes sense though I would not have thought the margins of N5 would have much to offer them.

Noticed the same thing a couple of months back. Gangs of 20 to 30 crows every couple of miles pecking at the middle of the road. Spread out over a lot of the Midlands on the N5. It was early morning so I thought it might be few they were drinking or something. Baffled me to be honest

Victor

Chisler2 wrote: »

There were so many, and so lethargic they barely lifted as cars reached them.

Crows are reasonably smart and learn as they grow older.

The main roads will have the most grain.

When a vehicle approaches a young crow, the crow will fly off.

Older crows just hop across the while line, knowing the car will stay to one side.

This doesn't work out for them when another vehicle is over-taking the first vehicle.

Chisler2

Konnor Polite Ladyfinger wrote: »

An additional factor at the moment is that birds need grit to aid digestion and salt for electrolyte balance so they often take advantage of the roads being gritted.

Never thought of that! Fascinating..........thank you.

Perifect

Feckin crows.

Victor

It seems that crows aren't the only ones. https://twitter.com/SlenderSherbet/status/1095667429445910530