Man, my local crows must be broken because those fuckers will roll up on feeders in packs. Even learned how to unhook the smaller ones they can’t perch on so they drop down and break open. Is truly abnormal behavior for them, or is it just that they generally can’t fit on a standard birdfeeder perch?
Corvids are also good problem-solvers and learn from local flock experience, so your local population might have innovated a behavior that isn’t common to the species in general. I have seen reports of crows putting walnuts under tires of cars at red lights to crack them, or using a plastic lid to snowboard down a roof for fun, but unhooking feeders so they fall to the ground and break open is a new one for me.
Man, my local crows must be broken because those fuckers will roll up on feeders in packs. Even learned how to unhook the smaller ones they can’t perch on so they drop down and break open. Is truly abnormal behavior for them, or is it just that they generally can’t fit on a standard birdfeeder perch?
I rarely see blue jays at my feeder, and never any other corvid, but your experience shows that isn’t universal.
I did a quick search, and this post seems to say usually they only come to feeders with peanuts, but sometimes in spring and summer they will come to regular seed feeders. https://thecottonwoodpost.net/2022/05/02/the-maddening-truth-feeding-crows-and-jays-harms-other-birds/
Corvids are also good problem-solvers and learn from local flock experience, so your local population might have innovated a behavior that isn’t common to the species in general. I have seen reports of crows putting walnuts under tires of cars at red lights to crack them, or using a plastic lid to snowboard down a roof for fun, but unhooking feeders so they fall to the ground and break open is a new one for me.