Hooded Crows Bleeding on Windowsills (1 Viewer)

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I have a merry little band of assorted corvines (mostly jackdaws and hooded crows) who appear to have been well paid to drive me out of my mind, by tearing up on my my patio, and tapping on my windows like urgent human visitors...at extremelly inconvenient times...

But I have that almost under control with techno playing outside one window from an mp3 player and the radio outside another...

What is puzzling me is that (whenever the batteries get flat) the hooded crows seems to drop blood all over the windowsills. This is really creepy, and I wonder if anyone can tell me how common this is, and how it happens?

I don't even know it it is their own blood.

Thanks in advance

B

 

[Jane Turner]

Have you seen Hitchcock's "The Birds"?

 

[Henry B]

Don,t go out after dark....

 

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Believe me, it is only too easy to see where Hitchcock got the idea from!

The tapping on windows is unbelievable, and it doesn't even SOUND as if they are trying to get in, just rapping for attention, with the unfortunate effect that when someone DOES come knocking they tend to get left waiting 20 minutes or so because I think it's the blasted birds!
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But in all seriousness the hooded crows are dripping blood everywhere, it has even crossed my mind one of them might be tubercular or something, because there is no suggestion of fighting. It just looks like the aftermath of a serious nosebleed or something.

But none of the neighbours is missing or anything...

Not yet...

B

 

[Jane Turner]

Have you seen it happen? I'm thinking that it might be a bird attacking its own reflection an drawing blood in the process.

 

[Julian Bell]

Funnily enough I experienced a spate of this crazy Hooded Corw behaviour earlier in the spring. I too initially thought it was a case of the bird attacking its own refelction.

I won't go into the details, but suffice it to say after a few nights creeping around inside my own house I suspected that the crow had an obsession with a certain house plant on the window sill. I removed the plant and the nightly window attacks / self mutilation (by the crow!) ceased immediately.

Wierd.....

 

[deborah4]

Corvids are commonly attracted to shiny objects and have been known to line their nests with such. One theory I've come across is that the behaviour triggers a parental 'attitude' relating possibly to the shine of the large eyes of young chicks - shiny pebbles, foil, jewelry sun shining on metal objects etc - even shiny bits of granite etc in patio slabs might produce a tempting shine - although I can't imagine the desire for fatherhood as being so strong as to draw blood! However, if they are not attacking their reflections, perhaps they are being drawn to shiny objects they can see through the window.

Whatever is causing it, perhaps for the crows' sake, you could try drawing the curtains/hanging something in the window to reduce the amount of reflection.

(reminds me of the old tale that used to go round school way back or told round the campfire: The car breaking down in the woods at night and husband going off into the dark to get help leaving his wife in the car who then starts to hear repeated knocking on the roof. After some time sitting terrified in the car, she is suddenly surrounded by floodlights and police who call through a loud speaker for her to step out the car, but NOT TO LOOK BACK! ... and then of course she does and sees ...... aaarh!)

 

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Well, the Jackdaws finished the geraniums weeks ago now...so it isn't them...

I tried drawing the curtains but the seemed to regard that as "greater privacy" for THEM...and got worse. I also tried mirrors in the windows.

The only thing that works is music. I have 2 PC speakers hanging out of the toplight in a plastic bag. They got used to the techno, but the Tanzanian Tribal seems to be holding them.

I did wonder if he was literally giving himself a nosebleed myself. They are called "White Crows" round here, and even hardened farmers have a horror of them, usually from coming across them literally eating sick lambs alive. I did wonder if they were up to something like that too.

There is also a tiny little finch (grey blue and rust red) at a similar, but much less annoying caper...

He spent an afternoon on the windowledge "analysing the situation" and has been, rather carefully, with no damage to himself, trying to find his way through the window ever since...

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