We have put up a water dish for birds on our window sill. The original idea was to let all sorts of birds drink from it. But only crows have monopolized it. The sparrows are afraid of crows, and do not even look at the water dish. Pigeons keep a safe distance from the crows, possibly because crows eat non vegetarian food and are not very clean. Perhaps pigeons remember crows which stole their eggs from their nests. Other exotic birds (only robins and another type whose name I don't know) which visit our balcony garden prefer to drink water somewhere else.
Our crows are special. They do not just drink water and go away. They have attitudes. Though they look similar to me, I can identify three of them as individuals, from their cawing. They visit the water dish before retiring for the day. One of them is a gentleman. He caws as follows.
"Caw .. caw. Krrr caw Kawwaa? Kaa Caw" in a low volume, gentle voice. My interpretation is that he says "Hello, hello. How you doing? Good night." He goes away after I say good night. But it may not mean anything, because he goes away even when I say nothing. Please note that I never say "go away" to him.
The second crow looks sly. He also speaks softly. "Caw .. caw. Kra kraa ka?" My interpretation is that he says, "Hello, hello. Anything to eat?" Since we do not feed them in the evening, I usually ignore him, and he goes away quietly.
The third crow is stout, dark (I know all crows are dark, but this one is darker) and looks like a hooligan. He checks out the water dish. If it is nearly empty, he says angrily, "KRAA..KRAA..KRAA..KRAA", which I cannot put in words, because I am sure he is an illiterate (or its equivalent in crows) and cannot speak crow language. But I am sure he scolds me for letting the dish get nearly empty. A nearly empty dish in the evening means an empty dish in the morning, and he has to wait for us to wake up and fill up his dish before he can drink.
I could be wrong, but I have a strong feeling that I have met people with similar attitudes.
Our crows are special. They do not just drink water and go away. They have attitudes. Though they look similar to me, I can identify three of them as individuals, from their cawing. They visit the water dish before retiring for the day. One of them is a gentleman. He caws as follows.
"Caw .. caw. Krrr caw Kawwaa? Kaa Caw" in a low volume, gentle voice. My interpretation is that he says "Hello, hello. How you doing? Good night." He goes away after I say good night. But it may not mean anything, because he goes away even when I say nothing. Please note that I never say "go away" to him.
The second crow looks sly. He also speaks softly. "Caw .. caw. Kra kraa ka?" My interpretation is that he says, "Hello, hello. Anything to eat?" Since we do not feed them in the evening, I usually ignore him, and he goes away quietly.
The third crow is stout, dark (I know all crows are dark, but this one is darker) and looks like a hooligan. He checks out the water dish. If it is nearly empty, he says angrily, "KRAA..KRAA..KRAA..KRAA", which I cannot put in words, because I am sure he is an illiterate (or its equivalent in crows) and cannot speak crow language. But I am sure he scolds me for letting the dish get nearly empty. A nearly empty dish in the evening means an empty dish in the morning, and he has to wait for us to wake up and fill up his dish before he can drink.
I could be wrong, but I have a strong feeling that I have met people with similar attitudes.
