How a crow lays eggs. Hoodie crow - description, habitat, interesting facts

A well-known bird with gray body plumage and black head, wings and tail. Similar species there are no gray crows. It is difficult to distinguish a male hoodie from a female outwardly, but males are on average slightly larger.

Young gray crows look like adults after leaving the nest, but their gray color is darker (especially on the neck) and has a brown tint, and black is without shine. There are age differences that can be seen when the bird is in your hands: young people have gray eyes, oral cavity white, in the second year of life the eyes are brown, the oral cavity is white or spotted; In adult hooded crows, the eyes are dark brown or almost black, the mouth cavity is gray or (in older ones) black. Crows weigh 430–740 g, length 44–51, wing 29.2–35.5, span 87–102 cm.

Lifestyle of Hooded Crows

The nesting habitats of hooded crows are extremely diverse; they only avoid areas completely devoid of woody vegetation, dense forests and mountains. Crows happily live next to humans, including in big cities, on the busiest streets.

They are territorial, the male defends the territory from pre-breeding time and “sings” regularly. The usual location of a crow's nest is in the crown of a tree, including on individual trees among a field, steppe, or swamp.

Nest construction begins in mid-latitudes in mid-March - early April. Both members of the couple construct them from twigs, carry earth into a tray, then line them with grass, wool, roots, moss, as well as rags, paper, etc. In cities and near roads, hooded crows often use wire instead of twigs. New nests are built every year, and material from old nests is often used.

In a clutch there are 1–7, more often 3–5 eggs of pale green, green, bluish-green color, with large spots irregular shape, brown or olive in color. Incubation begins with the 1st–3rd egg, less often after completion of the clutch, and lasts 18–21 days. The female incubates, the male carries food to her in the nest and sometimes replaces her. When people appear at the nest, the crows start screaming and fly around.

Crow chicks have gray down, the oral cavity is light pink, with pinkish-white marginal ridges. They leave the nest already able to fly, at the age of 4–5 weeks. IN middle lane this is approximately the end of May - beginning of June. Broods of hooded crows remain in the nest area for about 2 weeks, then most of them move to other places.

Eating crows

Crows are omnivores, but prefer animal food. In nature, they eat carrion, catch all kinds of invertebrates and small vertebrates, destroy nests (a characteristic feature in the “handwriting” of the gray crow is that, when destroying a nest, they usually pull out the bedding from it), dig up rodent holes, muskrat huts, i.e. . behave like small predators, and are very smart and inventive in their hunting methods. Near humans, crows feed mainly on garbage.

Crow breeding

Crows begin to breed at the end of the 2-3rd, or even the 5th year of life. Pair formation occurs in winter, with aerial games, chases, and somersaults in the air. Adult crows apparently live in permanent pairs all their lives and nest annually in the same area. However, not all birds are equally attached to a place and their mate. Young crows that do not nest spend the summer wandering, flying outside the nesting area. The longest known lifespan of the hooded crow is 19 years.

ORDER PASSERINS - PASSERIFORMES

Sem. Corvids - Corvidae

Hoodie- one of the most common birds of the Leningrad region. In anthropogenic landscapes it is widespread and occurs in all seasons of the year. In natural biotopes it is quite common in summer, but rare in winter.

The formation of pairs in most crows apparently occurs at the end of the second year of life, during the spring mating period. Established couples can persist for several years until the death of one of the partners. This is confirmed by observations of individually marked birds. For example, one of the ringed males nested in the same area for at least three years, and his female for at least two. After the death of the male (who was found dead not far from the nest), the same female remained paired with a new partner for another two years and reproduced in the same nesting area. Through this alternating replacement of partners, a territory suitable for nesting can be inhabited by crows for many years. In a garden on the Mendeleevskaya line in Leningrad, crows nested and raised chicks on the same group of trees for 27 years in a row, since 1946 [Malchevsky, 1974]. Currently, they still continue to nest in the same nesting area. A high degree of conservatism is also characteristic of crows nesting in natural biotopes.

Maintaining constancy of pairs throughout annual cycle, undoubtedly contributes to the success of reproduction, as it creates mutual adaptation of partners to their individual traits behavior. This constancy is primarily ensured by the high degree of sedentism of adult crows. After the completion of the reproductive period, the maintenance of constancy of couples is facilitated by “autumn air games" In the Leningrad region. they start around mid-September. If the weather is favorable, crows can actively mating even in November, as was observed, for example, in 1977, when many crows mated next to their nests, played in the air, threw and picked up dry leaves, etc. Judging by the mass of autumn air games, not only adult (already bred) crows take part in them, but also birds in the second year of life - one and a half years old (who have undergone a complete molt, but have not yet bred), as well as immature - young individuals (birds in post-juvenile plumage).

Elements of current behavior are periodically observed in winter, on sunny, relatively warm days. At the end of February sexual activity adult crows and second-year crows begin to increase rapidly. Their spring mating behavior is also becoming more and more noticeable. It manifests itself most fully in the second half of March - the first half of April. During this period, crows make various flights, accompanied by various cries. Sitting in trees or on the ground, they twitch their folded wings, open their tail feathers, spread their underparts, bend down and, rising, make special “squeezed” sounds. Sometimes the male sits close to the female, bows and at the same time “purrs” very quietly.

Apparently, not all two-year-old hooded crows find a mate and begin breeding. This has been proven for the European black crow.

Crows begin to occupy nesting areas relatively early. Visual observations and ringing data show that in some biotopes (especially in cities) many pairs of crows lead a sedentary lifestyle throughout the year, somewhat expanding their habitat area by winter period. Crows that nested in natural forest biotopes usually appear on their previous nesting sites no earlier than the second half of March. From August, they begin to leave these areas and gradually move to anthropogenic landscapes with food sources sufficient to survive winter conditions. Here they lead a sedentary or nomadic lifestyle.

The process of creating a pair and distributing to areas suitable for nesting lasts for about a month and continues at least until mid-April. This happens mainly because second-year birds (nesting for the first time) begin breeding later than older individuals who have previously bred.

In forest biotopes, far from populated areas, crows mainly nest along the banks of water bodies, usually not moving more than 1 km deep into the forest. The distance between neighboring residential nests here is 0.5-1 km or more. The nesting density of this species in biotopes developed by humans can be extremely high. On the Pulkovo Heights (near Leningrad) there is an area where up to 40 pairs of crows nest annually on an area of ​​about 100 hectares. In some cases, residential nests are only 50 or even 20 m apart from each other.

Crows' nests are located on different breeds trees, but prefer conifers. Of particular interest in relation to the plasticity of nesting instincts are cases of crows nesting on metal supports high voltage lines power transmission, noted, in particular, in Leningrad in the Sosnovsky forest park [Martynov, 1972], as well as in other places.

There is a direct relationship between the height of crow nests and the number of people visiting the territory in the Leningrad region. It is not always possible to trace. Of the 110 nests found on the Pulkovo Heights, 9 were at a height of less than 2 m, and 60% of the nests were no higher than 5 m. The average height was about 4 m. More than 10 years of observations in the southeastern Ladoga region, where crows do not experience any significant pressure from humans have shown that in coastal forests crows make nests on large pines and spruces, usually 12-15 m or more above the ground.

Old nests are rarely used, in about one case out of 10. Most birds prefer to build new nests. Construction begins with the base of the nest, which is made up of relatively thick branches. A “basket” is built on it, smeared from the inside with earth and covered with bast fibers. The tray consists of wool, various soft materials, less often of dry roots of herbs, feathers, etc. Wire is often used as a building material for crows, which is sometimes used in large quantities. One day a nest was found, half made of aluminum spoons and forks. The height of the nest base can reach up to 30 cm. The dimensions of the nests vary greatly: the height of the nest (without base) is in the range of 15-28 cm, the diameter is from 30 to 50 cm, the diameter of the tray is 17-22 cm and the depth of the tray is from 8 to 13 cm (25 slots).

The construction of the nest is usually started by both birds, but sometimes only by the male, who later becomes only a carrier of nesting material, and the initiative in construction passes to the female. Often the construction that has begun is interrupted and no longer continues: the nest is built anew, sometimes on the same tree. I had to observe how, after the death of several females killed by a goshawk while incubating clutches, the males alone brought new nests to the “base of the nest” stage, and in one case almost to the lining of the tray, but no further.

The duration of nest construction is determined mainly by the degree of sexual activity of individuals and weather conditions. The general pattern is this: the earlier construction begins, the longer it lasts.

In some years, crows began collecting building material as early as March 15-17. The latest almost completed nests were found on May 20-24. During repeated breedings, not a single case of laying eggs in the same nest was noted - a new one was always built, not far from the destroyed one.

The interval between completion of nest construction and egg laying usually does not exceed 2-3 days, but sometimes the first egg appears 5 or even 9 days after the end of nest building. Females lay one egg per day. Often, laid eggs are stolen on the same day by neighboring crows, which can create the erroneous impression that there are breaks in egg laying. In urban environments, crows begin laying eggs earlier than in rural areas. Most early date the beginning of breeding of the hooded crow, known for Leningrad, is April 3 (1954), the most late date-May 24-25. Observations have shown that in the Leningrad region. The egg laying period for hooded crows can last 53 days. According to average long-term data (392 observations), 60% of all clutches appear before April 20 inclusive, i.e., during the first 18 days, and 40% in the next 35 days. After the destruction of the earliest clutches, the birds begin their second attempt to reproduce no earlier than 10 days later. Thus, in the years when crows begin breeding in normal timing, almost all clutches encountered before April 15-20 can be considered the first.

In natural forest biotopes, the breeding season for crows, as a rule, begins no earlier than mid-April. Until April 20, no more than 30% of clutches usually appear here.

The timing of reproduction noticeably depends on the weather and food conditions of spring, which sometimes leads to significant annual differences even in the same (insignificant in area) territories [Shutenko, 1979].

The number of eggs in complete clutches varies from 3 to 6. In the period until April 20, the clutch size averages 4.7 (79 cases), from April 21 to April 30 - 4.5 (33), and in May - 4.0 ( 32 cases) eggs. Clutch sizes and morphometric characteristics of eggs are subject to great variability and can serve as an indicator of the degree to which a given year is favorable for reproduction [Shutenko, 1979].

Females begin incubation immediately after laying the first egg. Males do not have brood spots, but some of them participate to a small extent in incubating clutches, and, according to the observation of A.P. Shkatulova, even in warming downy chicks.

Approximately every third clutch of crows contains eggs with dead embryos or unfertilized eggs. IN different years 12 to 17% of such eggs occur.

The main cause of egg death is cannibalism. The level of cannibalism is directly dependent on the total number of breeding and non-breeding crows, as well as on feeding conditions. In one of the territories with the same nesting density (40 pairs per 100 ha) in years with different feeding conditions due to cannibalism, from 39 to 60% of clutches died [Shutenko, 1979].

The weight of a newborn crow is on average 74.3% of the weight of an unhatched egg. Chicks emerging from the first two eggs weigh on average 14.5 g, from the third and fourth - 13.5, from the fifth and sixth - 12.3 g. The greatest differences in weight are found in the period from the 14th to the 22nd day of life. The difference between chicks of the same age sometimes reaches 270 g. last days Before departure, the mass of crows is leveled. The mass of fledglings is on average 12% lower than the mass of young crows, which are already capable of free and maneuverable flight. Natural flight from nests occurs at the age of 30-33 days (Fig. 131).

Rice. 131. Hoodie crow (Corvus comix) at a nest with chicks.
Neighborhoods of Leningrad, Lakhta, May 1969. Photo by K. N. Bobrov.

The average mortality of nesting chicks is about 20%. They are stolen from their nests relatively rarely. The main waste occurs due to the large prolongation of the hatching period, as a result of which the younger crows lag behind in development and ultimately die from exhaustion or are crushed by stronger brothers.

Immediately after departure, many fledglings end up directly on the ground. Only after 2-5 days do they begin to “fly up” and climb the trees [Shutenko, 1978]. In the first 5-10 days after departure, the fledglings stay hidden in an area usually not exceeding 1-4 hectares. From about 40 days of age, the young begin to gain experience in finding food and, trying to follow their parents, gradually expand their habitat. At the age of 50 days they begin to forage on their own. Already 30 days after departure, many broods move away from the nests at a distance of up to 1.5 km. From this time on, some broods end their sedentary lifestyle and begin family migrations. At the end of July - beginning of August, young crows at the age of 80-90 days finally switch to an independent lifestyle and separate from their parents. Separate broods begin to connect. At the same time, some young crows continue to stay in the nest area even at the end of August, at the age of about 100 days. This difference in behavior is observed even among chicks of the same brood. For example, out of four chicks belonging to the same brood that we ringed, three chicks ended up at a distance of 20 km two months after leaving the nest, and one continued to remain in the same area.

Already in early September, some young crows' migrations turn into pronounced migrations. The flocks become larger, their movements acquire a certain direction, and the speed of movement increases. The greatest migration activity occurs in October. By the end of November, autumn migration gradually ends.

As the results of banding show, young individuals settle for the winter in places that vary in distance from their nests. Some remain to winter in the areas of their birth, which is more typical for young crows born in “urban-type” biotopes.

On the outskirts of Leningrad, crows begin to concentrate as early as September. The increase in numbers occurs due to the settling of migrating flocks, as well as due to the concentration of local individuals. In October, as a result of a new arrival of migrating flocks, the number of crows in the city increases sharply, but some individuals begin to move to less populated areas. In November, the concentration of crow flocks continues. At the same time, the mobility of young birds also increases. The increased territorial mobility of young crows, observed in November (Table 16), is explained by the need to search for suitable winter territories. By the end of November, the distribution of crow flocks generally ends, the degree of attachment of individual individuals to certain feeding territories increases and, without changing significantly, remains until March [Shutenko, Panteleev, 1981]. However, it is impossible to talk about complete sedentary behavior of immature young crows even in winter. A significant part of them constantly moves from one winter flock to another, and therefore their feeding and roosting places change. Some young crows, ringed and painted with special dyes on the territory of the Leningrad Zoo, were found in new feeding areas during December-February, up to 12 km away from the ringing site. There are also more significant winter movements, over a distance of up to 20 km, for example: zoo (December 2, 1978) - Pulkovo (February 17, 1979); Zoo (December 31, 1978) - Strelna (February 3, 1979). Observations of the daily feeding movements of flocks of crows showed that the number of individuals in flocks during morning migrations may greatly differ from the number of crows returning to spend the night. Thus, even in December-February, there is a constant exchange of individuals between winter flocks of crows.

At the beginning of March, crows' spring migration activity increases and their attachment to winter habitats sharply decreases. Since March, crows have left Leningrad and, as the results of ringing have shown, head to the east of the Leningrad region, to the Karelian Isthmus, to the KASSR, to the Vologda and Arkhangelsk region. Spring migrations in the second half of May turn into feeding migrations, alternating with sedentism in the most favorable places, where flocks of non-breeding individuals linger for a long time. This behavior continues throughout the late spring and summer periods. However, some of the immature crows do not leave the winter territories in the summer. For example, one of the crows was captured at the zoo on September 15, October 4, March 1, March 29, May 19 and June 20. Two young individuals, painted in winter, were encountered on the territory of Leningrad in July. Thus, even among young birds there are individual individuals that do not show a desire to move in all seasons of the year, lead a sedentary lifestyle and, with the onset of maturity, nest near their places of birth.

Some crows migrate from their wintering grounds to where they were born. For example, a bird ringed as a chick in the south-eastern Ladoga region on May 26, 1979, was caught in Leningrad on November 27 of the same year, and on April 28, 1980 - 100 m from the nest in which it was born. There are other examples of this kind. However, such cases are the exception rather than the rule. Most young immature crows, after spring migrations, summer and autumn migrations, move considerable distances from their place of birth. Leaving their wintering places in the spring, they sometimes fly very far from them, and in different directions. And a year later, with the onset of maturity, they often nest in places very distant from their native nest. Thus, young crows that were ringed at the age of 7-10 months during the winter in Leningrad, later, at the age of 2 years and older, ended up at the nesting grounds not only in Leningrad and the Leningrad region, but also far beyond its borders, sometimes at a distance up to 1500 km, for example in the Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

Of the 2,000 young immature crows ringed at wintering grounds in Leningrad, only 6 birds were recaptured in subsequent winters. Most likely these were individuals local origin. It seems that the majority of young crows in their second year of life do not return to the places where they wintered a year ago. One young crow, wintering in Leningrad, next winter ended up in the Arkhangelsk region, and the other in the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Fig. 132). Apparently, most crows behave like adults in their second year of life. They do not migrate in the fall in flocks of young birds, but gradually move to the nearest places favorable for wintering. Some of them only expand their summer territories for the winter. In the spring, most crows of this age form pairs, occupy nesting sites and begin breeding.

Rice. 132. Meeting places of immature young hooded crows (Corvus cornix),
ringed during the winter in Leningrad.
1 - meetings during the period of spring migrations and summer movements; 2 - meetings during the autumn movements; 3 - places of finds during wintering periods; 4 - meetings of adult individuals during the breeding season (data obtained jointly with M. S. Galitsky and O. P. Smirnov);
5 - place of ringing.

Like other corvids, the hooded crow is omnivorous, however, animal food - various invertebrates, rodents, small birds and carrion - forms the basis of its diet. During the nesting period, she feeds the chicks mainly with insects - beetles, butterfly caterpillars, etc. The crows also receive eggs and chicks of various birds, mainly songbirds. Crows especially often visit colonies of field thrushes, stealing eggs and chicks from nests. We also had to observe crows destroying the nests of white-browed birds, finches, and gray flycatchers. We also know of cases of pecking of clutches of mallards, teal, and lapwings. One of the known nests of the gray crane located close to Leningrad was also devastated by the crow. In the latter case, according to Yu. B. Pukinsky, the crow, having made large holes in the shells of both eggs, pulled out the embryos from them and left the empty eggs lying in place. The predatory activity of crows in the summer is largely facilitated by humans, whose actions these birds constantly monitor. By scaring birds from their nests and causing them alarm, people thereby provide the crow with the opportunity to discover a brood or nest.
In autumn, crows, in addition to animal food, eat plant foods. At this time, seeds of wheat, barley, peas and other cultivated plants were found in their stomachs. In suburban and city parks, there have also been cases of crows eating acorns that they tore from branches.

In autumn time favorite place crows feed on the shores of bodies of water, where these birds feed on various emissions, dead fish, as well as a toothless bivalve mollusk. At the same time, individual individuals sometimes amaze with their resourcefulness: they seem to demonstrate elements of intelligent activity. Having taken a mollusk in its beak, the crow vertically flies up to a height of 15-20 m and throws it onto the coastal pebbles. The crow repeats these actions until the shell opens or breaks. This behavior of crows was observed by A. S. Malchevsky and Yu. B. Pukinsky in different years and only on the northern coast of the Gulf of Finland.

In winter, many crows feed on the ice of reservoirs, for example, on the Neva, on the Finnish Hall. and Lake Ladoga, picking up the remains of fishermen’s breakfasts and small fish. Closer to spring, in March-April, many of the crows are engaged in purposeful mowing in the fields. In this case, the birds apparently actively use their hearing. In the spring and summer, when puddles appear on the roads and streets, you can see how crows hunt for sparrows: watching the bathing individual and waiting until its plumage is sufficiently wet, the crow chases the bird taking off with difficulty. All this indicates greater plasticity in the behavior of the gray crow when searching for food.

The hooded crow (Corvus cornix) is one of the most recognizable birds Moscow region. This is a very smart bird that becomes attached to the person who raised it.

Description

Hoodie(corvid family) is a fairly large bird, from 44 to 51 cm long, weighing up to 700 g. The wingspan is about one meter. The hooded crow's plumage is gray or dark gray (except for the black crown of the head, bib, tail and wings). The black beak is slightly hooked and has a slightly convex beak. The hooded crow's legs are black. It is the presence of gray color in the plumage that is one of the important distinctive features sulfur crow. Young birds are slightly darker than adults. The voice of the gray crow is a hoarse “karr-karrr”. Many ornithologists consider this bird to be a subspecies of the black crow and admit the possibility of crossbreeding between black and gray crows. “In their way of life, the gray and black crows are almost indistinguishable from each other. Both represent sedentary, less often nomadic birds, living in pairs or united in a large society.” (A.E. Brem “The Life of Animals, Volume II, “Birds”).

Nutrition

Hooded crows are omnivores. “They eat everything - they clean the railway tracks from what falls from garbage cans and carriage toilets, they swallow mice, lizards and frogs, seeds of spruce and field bindweed...” (S. F. Starikovich “Menagerie at the Porch”). The menu is replenished with various small rodents, birds, beetles, worms, eggs of other birds, food waste, carrion, fruits and grains. Crows have learned to get their own food different ways. “For a month, the birds, not sparing their bellies, saved the lands of the Barguzinsky Nature Reserve from pests. They did not dig the ground at random, but stuck their beaks exactly where, at a depth of 5 - 10 centimeters, the larvae of the cockchafer were tormenting the roots of the plants.” (S. F. Starikovich “Menagerie at the Porch”).

The omnivorous nature of the gray crow leads to the fact that it often feeds in landfills, garbage containers and other similar places. It is not uncommon to see the mess crows make near trash cans. They take with them crusts of bread and bones with the remains of meat in order to be satisfied in a more convenient place. For example, on the roofs of houses.
The crow is classified as birds of prey as she hunts for more small birds(especially chicks), rodents and other animals. In some parks, squirrels suffer from hooded crows. “Sometimes there are raids on hares that for some reason find themselves in a clearing during the day. A flock of crows skillfully blocks the Oblique's escape route. Sometimes the crows adopt the vile manner of the skua - they terrorize the small gulls that have grabbed the fish until they spit out the silvery body.” (S. F. Starikovich “Menagerie at the Porch”).

Habitat

In our country, the gray crow is common in the European part and in Siberia. In the east (up to the Yenisei) the color of the crow's plumage is more gray. This bird is found in forests, wastelands, landfills, small towns and cities. The bird is not afraid of the abundance of people. The hooded crow manages to build nests not only on trees, but also on buildings. Crows gather in huge flocks to spend the night. They often spend the night in parks or cemeteries. They are often joined by rooks and jackdaws. One part of the Moscow and Moscow region gray crows remains in their former places for the winter, the other part migrates to other regions and even to European countries. The total number of birds is not decreasing, as crows fly to us from the North.

Hatching chicks

With the arrival of spring, the mating season begins. At this time, it is interesting to watch the males performing incredibly complex turns, takeoffs and other aerobatics in the air. The hooded crow nests in pairs. Sometimes nests are located nearby. Crows are very sensitive birds. They are well versed in environmental issues. In polluted areas, the hooded crow rarely builds a nest. She only flies there in search of food, and builds a nest in a cleaner place so that the offspring are healthy.

In March - April, the construction of a nest on a tree or building begins. Construction material- everything that crows are able to find and bring. These are branches, hay, rags, various pieces of iron and pieces of wire. The clutch consists of 2 - 6 bluish-green eggs with dark brown spots and streaks. The eggs laid first are more intensely colored than the last eggs. At the very end, the female lays pale blue eggs with almost imperceptible speckles. Family responsibilities They are distributed like this: the female incubates the eggs, and the male supplies her with food. “Through binoculars you can clearly see that there is noticeable movement in the nest. The bird rises a little and seems to half-stand for several moments, quickly moving its legs, causing its wings and whole body to tremble. These seemingly strange actions of the bird help to ventilate the nesting tray. It lasts from a few seconds to half a minute and is repeated so often that the bird, in fact, never sits quietly on the eggs.” (S.F. Starikovich “Menagerie at the Porch”).

The chicks hatch after about three weeks. It is noted that the first crow to hatch is the “boy”. As soon as the chicks are born, the female hooded crow starts searching for food. Birds guard the nest with chicks in turns. Growing chicks need food that is easily digestible and has enough calories. Best product food - eggs of other birds. Crows mercilessly rob other people's nests to feed their chicks. They also hunt the chicks of smaller birds. “Sitting on a perch stick (and who invented that?) or on the overhanging roof of a birdhouse, the crow waits for the chick to look out the window. Grabbing him by the beak, she drags away the foolish ones one by one. But this is not the height of robbery: some crows uncork birdhouses like a bottle of beer. At the Zvenigorod Biological Station of Moscow State University, a burglar, using her beak as a lever, threw off the lids from eight birdhouses in one morning. Putting her beak between the lid and the side wall, she widened the gap until the lid gave way.”

Habits of the Hoodie Crow

Crows are surprisingly agile, although they walk slowly due to their close-toed toes. This bird loves fun. For example, it glides with pleasure, gaining a height of several tens of meters. Swings boldly on the wires. At our dacha, crows noisily roll down the metal roof, having previously folded their wings. Smart birds are incredibly smart. “If they can’t break a strong shell with their beak, they fly into the sky and throw the shell on rocks or on the highway. Once, crows used the Tashkent airfield as nutcrackers. In the mornings, when there was relative calm at the airport, a flock of crows bombed the concrete strip walnuts, gathered in neighboring gardens! (S. F. Starikovich “Menagerie at the Porch”). There are many facts confirming the abilities of crows. “They famously count to five in their heads. They organized a round-up of crows... If five people entered the shelter, the flock did not return until all the hunters lost patience and went home. If, say, nine people climbed into the shelter, and six or seven came out, the observer crows lost count and, deciding that everything was in order, gave signals to return.” (S. F. Starikovich “Menagerie at the Porch”).

The crow has worst enemy- eagle owl. He kills birds at night when they are sleeping. Crows are vindictive. They remember and can attack the dog that chased them a year ago. Occasionally birds are mistaken for old offenders fur hats people and peck them furiously.

The daily routine of the gray crow

The famous Alfred Edmund Brehm described the typical daily routine of crows this way. " Everyday life A raven is something like this. They begin to fly before dawn and often, before scattering across the fields, they gather on a particular building or big tree. Until noon, they are actively busy looking for food: they walk through fields and meadows, guard mouse holes, look out for bird nests, and rummage through gardens. ... By noon, crows flock to a dense tree to sleep in its foliage after lunch, and then go back to feed. Before settling down for the night, they gather in large numbers, apparently with the goal of mutually exchanging impressions of the day.” (A.E. Brem “The Life of Animals, Volume II, “Birds”).

Hand crow

A crow living in captivity quickly gets used to humans. Especially if she came into the house as a chick. Everyone notes that this is a very smart bird. True, thievish. “Here, for example, is how zoologist Yu. Romov complained about his tame bird. His pupil, who lived freely, stole everything she could carry. At the table she behaved in highest degree indecently - she emptied the spoon of the host and the guest before they had time to bring it to the mouth. As soon as I gaped a little, the spoon itself disappeared. Neither swearing nor slaps on the head helped.” (S. F. Starikovich “Menagerie at the Porch”).

“Both types of crows can be found without much hassle. for a long time keep in captivity; they are tamed and learn to speak, if only the teacher has enough patience. But still they are not suitable for the room because of their untidiness and the smell they spread...” (A.E. Brem “The Life of Animals, Volume II, “Birds”). A tame crow lives near a person for years. She gets so used to the house and all family members that she can lead a free lifestyle, but eat and spend the night with people.

Common raven- the largest bird not only in the corvid family, but also in the entire passerine order. Its body length is about 64 cm, and it can weigh up to 1.5 kg. Raven is easy to recognize by large sizes, general “raven” appearance and uniform black coloring with a metallic sheen. Noteworthy is the large and powerful beak of this bird and its unique voice - a guttural croak that has many shades and variations.

Throughout the year, crows stay in pairs. Hearing a hoarse “kru-kru” over the forest and looking around, you can almost always find the second bird with your eyes. Now crows have become the most common birds, and it’s rare to go out of town without seeing at least a couple of these birds. And there was a time when I specifically traveled 75 km from Moscow to look at the ravens nesting in an old spruce forest near the station. Golitsyno.

Raven nesting

Crows begin nesting earlier than all our birds, with the exception of crossbills and rock pigeons, which can lay eggs even in the middle of winter. In the middle zone, they begin their spectacular aerial games over the forest already in January, and in March they begin building new or repairing old nests, which they sometimes use for many years. Nests are located in large trees, usually on high altitude, often not lower than 20 m on the ground, therefore difficult to reach for observation. In recent decades, near Moscow, some crows have begun to build nests on metal masts of high-voltage transmission lines. In the east, in the steppe regions, I found raven nests under the roofs of tall wooden buildings, and in the north - on rock ledges. There are known cases of these birds nesting on bell towers and city towers.

A raven's nest is very similar to a nest common crow, only bigger. The outside is made of dry, rather thick branches, and the inside is lined with wool. In central Russia, female crows lay their first eggs at the very beginning of March, and from then on they do not leave the nest. The male flies in from time to time to feed his brooding mate. A full clutch contains 3-7 eggs. They are greenish or grayish-bluish in color, with dark superficial and lighter deep spots scattered throughout. Externally, raven eggs are very similar to crow eggs, but noticeably larger. Their average size is 49.7×33.4 mm. Incubation lasts about 3 weeks. Young crows leave the nest at the end of May. Towards the end of the nesting cycle, the ground under the crow's nest is heavily soiled with white blotches of droppings. Here you can also find bird pellets, sometimes remnants of food brought by birds to their chicks, and, as a rule, at least 1-2 blue-black feathers they have lost.

Eating crow

Raven is a scavenger. Near slaughterhouses or at fishing and hunting grounds, these birds sometimes gather in large numbers. They are very brave predators. If a crow does not dare to attack an adult gray rat, then the raven fearlessly attacks her and kills her with several blows of her beak. You look, not even a couple of minutes have passed since the attack, and he is already carrying the killed rat to some secluded place where he will not be disturbed while eating. When, having had enough, the raven leaves this place, all that remains is blood-stained snow, trampled by its large paws. Usually he eats the entire animal without leaving a trace. Ravens also decide to attack larger prey, such as the sick or wounded. large birds and even for hares.

Traces of a raven when moving at a walk (on the left) and in leaps

When carrion appears in the forest, the raven often knows about it by the excited chirping of magpies or the croaking of crows. However, he is careful and does not rush to rich food, and descends from the tree only after he is convinced of complete safety. Despite its powerful beak, it is very difficult for him to peck through the strong skin of an elk or cow, so he begins to eat carrion after dogs or foxes gnaw through the skin, or if he himself discovers any wounds on the animal’s body. A raven will peck out the eyes of a dead sheep or dog, but it cannot do this of a large cow.

Raven pellets can be found not only under the nesting tree. Sometimes they can be found under trees and rocks where birds spend the night. They resemble crow pellets, which are found quite often, but in a raven they are larger - (6×2.2) - (4.3×2.7) cm. The pellets usually consist of the wool of eaten animals and bone fragments embedded in it. You often notice seeds of cultivated cereals in them. In the southern regions, there are raven pellets consisting entirely of some kind of fruit, for example, semi-digested ephedra berries.

The droppings of these birds can either be in the form of a semi-liquid, blurred white blot, or in the form of a thicker short “sausage” of a dark color, but covered with a white coating at one end - it all depends on the food eaten. The size of such a “sausage” is about 4.5x0.8 cm.

Raven paw print

It’s not at all difficult to find traces of a raven’s paws; you just have to go out of town and walk across a field or along the edge of a forest. Its paw prints are easy to spot various kinds individual characteristics. You can, for example, pay attention to the fact that the prints left by different ravens differ noticeably in size. As a rule, larger prints belong to males, and smaller ones belong to females. The male leaves an imprint (11.4×4.8) - (12.5×5), and the female - about 10.5×4 cm. The length of the claws on the middle fingers is up to 1.7, and on the hind fingers - 2 cm. Moves crows either take measured steps 16-20 cm long, or oblique leaps, placing one paw slightly in front of the other.

In April, when all the birds of the raven family have offspring, you can sometimes find babies that have fallen from the nest, but are alive, under the trees. What to do with such yellowthroats? It all depends on his age. If this is a crow chick, the photo of which you see, it will not be difficult to get it out. But if he is much younger (only with stumps of feathers or completely naked), saving his life is fraught with certain difficulties.

At this age, the crow chick is not yet able to independently maintain the body’s heat balance. The mother warms the children, and if the spring turns out to be hot, then she cools them down. Therefore, if you have decided on the almost hopeless task of saving a newborn raven, you need to build him an incubator as soon as possible. This could be a small box (for shoes or cake) or a pot. The inside of this container should be lined with a soft cloth. Make sure that the new socket is covered with a light cloth, and place an incandescent lamp above it. You can replace it with a heating pad placed at the bottom of the box, but this measure can only be temporary, since heating from below is inorganic for the raven. If the chick is shaking, increase the temperature. And if he opens his beak and breathes frequently, remove the outer fabric and reduce the heating.

What to feed a crow chick at this tender age? Adults are practically omnivores, but babies require baby food. It should consist of 30-50% grated carrots. This component is not only rich in carotene, but also helps give the food a sufficiently moist consistency so that the baby swallows a piece without choking. Another 30% is protein. Ground low-fat cottage cheese, boiled yolks, porridge. Minced fish and meat are very useful for babies. Baby formula added to the food will provide your child with vitamins, but we must not forget to add crushed shells to the food raw eggs. This way the chick will fledge faster.

Second week of life

On the tenth day, the baby begins to develop the rudiments of future feathers. Thus, the raven chick no longer needs constant heating. Leave the lamp only overnight and turn it off during the day, but the temperature in the room should not be lower than +20 degrees C. Until the body is completely covered by the fluff, it is not recommended to remove the upper fabric from the nest. If in the first week you need to feed the chick every one and a half to two hours (with a break at night), then meals should become less frequent. You can teach the first command: emit a hoarse, loud “a” before feeding, so that the raven chick opens its beak.

When caring for ravens, it should be remembered that these birds defecate immediately during feeding, so before eating, the chick should be seated on a piece of newspaper. In the future, you need to accustom your pet to a place for the toilet. It is necessary to provide the bird with toys (preferably always new and shiny). Crows love to swim. Therefore, the chicks can be sprayed with a spray bottle, and when they learn to walk, give them a basin with warm water for water procedures. Little yellowthroats should not be given water, as water may enter the respiratory tract. In the first two weeks, limit yourself to bread soaked in water or milk. Then, when the raven chick learns to drink, always provide him with a container of fresh water. If the bird gets used to you, you can teach it to talk and also take it for walks to stretch its wings.