Bird Brainiacs, Masks, and Trinkets

While organizing our kitchen-closet food-pantry in the fall, I found a bag of raw, whole almonds. Hubby and I seldom eat raw, whole almonds due to all the crowns in our mouths. Some almonds are too hard on the crowns.

So, I thought I'd use the almonds to feed the squirrels. I scattered some on the railing of our backyard deck. The almonds disappeared, but I wasn't sure how. The wind had picked up shortly after I scattered them, and I thought maybe the wind had blown them off the railing. I peered over the back of the deck into the thick foliage but saw no almonds. I thought, Maybe the almonds got blown off but are camouflaged by the foliage and mulch.

A couple more times over the following month I scattered almonds on the deck railing. Again they disappeared, but I wasn't sure where or how.

This past Saturday we received about 7 inches of snow. The temperature since has ranged from single digits to high 20s Fahrenheit. The snow is lingering.

Late Sunday afternoon right at sunset, I cleared the snow as best I could from the deck railing and off the top of a round metal table that sits on the deck. I put some millet in a bowl on the table. I scattered millet and almonds across the deck railing and on top of the snow on the built-in deck bench located beneath the railing.

Yesterday morning, which was Monday, I looked out the window onto the back deck. The almonds were gone and four chickadees sat on the deck railing looking fat and fluffy and happy. No way, I thought. Did those little birds eat all those almonds? Can they even eat almonds? I hope I'm not poisoning them!

I web-searched "almonds and birds." I learned that almonds are not poisonous to birds and that chickadees (and other birds like blue jays) do indeed eat almonds, even preferring them over sunflower seeds. I had read years ago that birds can eat up to twice their weight per day. I thought, Maybe the chickadees did eat the almonds.

Late Monday afternoon, I trekked around the perimeter of our backyard through the 3 to 6 inches of snow. I was looking for animal tracks as well as getting a little exercise and fresh air.

There were two deer, a buck and doe, in the neighbor's backyard two houses down. Their tracks led from the wooded area of our backyard over to where they were standing. The deer and I looked at each other momentarily. Then I continued my walk looking for tracks, and they went back to foraging on something beneath the snow.

Some other tracks had me puzzled. The tracks criss-crossed back and forth in certain areas of the backyard. These same tracks led to the deck. What made these tracks? They look too heavy to be chickadees. Anyway, it seems chickadees would fly, not hop. The tracks look like something with a tail? Could it be squirrels? But that doesn't make sense. Seems like squirrel tracks would be more sporadic; these tracks look methodical.

I scattered more almonds and millet on the deck railing and bench. I placed some on top of the millet in the bowl on the table and scattered a few on top of the snow around the bowl.

This morning, now Tuesday, I looked out the window and a lone chickadee was standing on the deck railing pecking at an almond. But then flew away without finishing her meal. The other almonds looked untouched. Hmm, I wonder if the almonds are too frozen this morning for chickadees to eat? Maybe they have to thaw a little first.

I looked out again about 30 minutes later.

Crows! There were four eating the almonds. A fifth flew in to help. I was fascinated watching them bird walk the railing. A couple of them hop-flew down to the ground and walked through the snow, their tails dragging.

I chuckled to myself. Yes, crows! They can scarf down those almonds in no time. That answers my mystery track question too.

After watching the crows from my window this morning I web-searched "crows." I found the following article most fascinating, especially about face recognition: Meet the Bird Brainiacs: American Crow

One paragraph states:

"As they trapped and banded crows around the University of Washington’s Seattle campus, he and his collaborators wore a latex caveman mask. When they later returned to those locations, either maskless or wearing a Dick Cheney mask the crows had never seen before, the birds ignored them. But anybody showing up in a caveman mask would spark a crowpocalypse. It wasn’t just the trapped birds that responded; apparently others had witnessed the abduction and remembered it. Whole gangs of crows followed the evildoer, scolding and dive-bombing. The birds knew that caveman face, and they didn’t like it one bit."

Maybe folks in New York and DC and everywhere Trump travels should wear Trump masks and abduct a few crows.

That same article also states:

"The crows in your neighborhood know your block better than you do. They know the garbage truck routes. They know which kids drop animal crackers and which ones throw rocks. They know the pet dogs, and they might even play with the friendly ones. If you feed them, they probably not only recognize you but your car as well, and they might just leave you trinkets in return. These birds live their lives intertwined with ours, carefully observing us even as most of us barely take note of them."

In the past I experienced a particular crow sighting where it seemed one crow followed me and a little Yorkie around the Yorkie's yard. The crow didn't bother us but would perch in different nearby trees as we moved about the yard. S/he seemed to be watching us.

I wonder if the crow following the Yorkie and I was friends with the Yorkie and was watching out for her? ...Or maybe the crow was interested in a Yorkie meal. Oh my.

I wonder if I'll receive any trinkets?