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I realize that all this is conjectural, but: Why is that more likely than just "eating the bones, skin, feet, and other animal parts the humans didn't eat" ? Either is more likely than "hand feeding" since that takes a pretty tamed animal.
Hunter gatherers eat the whole animal. Who’s throwing out skin and feet? https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animals-and-us/20200...
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I can go outside holding a feeder and as long as I stand still, after about a minute the hummers will feed while I'm holding the thing. Brave little birds.
Nasty little birds. We put out a feeder, and they battle each other for it, even when there's plenty for all. It's a good thing they don't decide to gang up on humans; they could do a lot of damage while we're still looking at where they were a hundred wingbeats ago.
Just from my experience as a cyclist in Amsterdam, crows are amazingly intelligent. They actually participate in traffic, and know the difference between bicycles, motor vehicles and light rail (they will get out of the way just-in-time for the first two, and happily ignore the latter if they're outside the profile of the train set). Pigeons, on the other hand, are the species that gave birth to the term 'bird brain'…
It kept going, and going, and going, and at the end of the video, he was feeding it cat treats.
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This is just wonderful. I'm so glad that your wife has something to keep her going on her bad days. My wife passed away at 46 years old, and the years leading up to her death were very hard. I learned that sometimes it's the smallest things that really bring joy- not things . Interacting with nature whether by observation or active participation is a wonderful thing.
How did you cope with the loss ? My wife has one metastasis on a vertebrae from a breast cancer that I tought defeated... it was almost the fourth year of cancer free scans when we had the terrible news, a month ago. Even though she's is on expensive drugs and will receive bleeding edge radio surgery in January... I fear that we don't have that much time left together and I don't know how I will cope with that loss.
My wife was sick for several years before she passed, and for the last 14 months, we knew it was coming. The main thing that got us both through the ordeal was finding joy in everyday life, wherever we could. My wife was amazing at that, and that had a lot to do with her faith too. I'd be remiss to leave that out. That's also been my coping mechanism in almost every way. But it's not a blind faith that she "went to a better place" or just listening to what some pastor says. My faith is fully informed, and I've chosen it after deep Bible study.
I know that may not be the answer you're looking for, but it's the truth. Without my faith I'd have been wrecked. It was hard enough as-is, but the religious organization I belong to has excellent written articles as well as videos that have gotten me through some really, really rough times... the kind you don't know even exist until yougo through them. Foremost however is my relationship with the true God. He has helped me immensely and brought tremendous relief.
This isn't a platform for proselytizing, and I respect that, so I've limited my answer to an honest answer to your question. There are resources that I'd love to share with you that will help you even from a secular standpoint. If you'd like, email me at my hn user at gmail. Take care, my friend. You're welcome to reach out to me any time.
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Nasty little birds. We put out a feeder, and they battle each other for it, even when there's plenty for all. It's a good thing they don't decide to gang up on humans; they could do a lot of damage while we're still looking at where they were a hundred wingbeats ago.
I saw a hummingbird attack a squirrel once. Nasty indeed. I suspect the squirrel was getting a little too close to its nest.
I can vouch for this approach. I lived in the territory of a couple of ravens (close relatives of crows; just as smart and twice as large) and it took me maybe 18 months to build a close relationship. I started out just talking to them and throwing whole peanuts (roasted, unsalted) on the ground while I was doing it. They looked at me warily and did not come close. Later on, the peanuts would disappear, but I was nev…
So each day many people here feed the crows first with rice before breakfast and on new moon day many undergo fasting, Make special food and give it to the crows first.
Obviously crows , Extraordinarily intelligent as they are keep perfect timings for their food and seems to know the lunar phases; No wonder we revere them.
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If you have a pet parrot you can get a more personal glimpse of their intelligence. We have a cockatiel and it’s interesting to get to know another intelligent species from a different branch of the tree.
You will also get a more personal glimpse at their tyranny. I type this as my conure is having a fit because I wouldn’t share any French fries with him.
I definitely wasn't expecting the author to be a biologist. Where I live, fed wild animals are dead wild animals. Because you don't know when that animal who is now used to being fed is gonna break into the neighbors' houses or simply beg at the door, and get trapped or shot or poisoned or all three. It happens. Dang.
Don't feed the wildlife!! Better to let crows be crows. They are wild animals and not domesticated, nor is there a great reason that they should be domesticated in any way. They along with the seagulls and starlings are already clearing out the rest of the other native species of birds, do they really need more help? Moreover, isn't it incredibly self centric to do this sort of bird feeding thing without any regard f…
Bird scientists differ on the relative risk and benefits of feeding. Darryl Jones who is emeritus Griffith uni I think, has written on this in the Australian urban context: they don't get dependent, it is marginal benefit, they rear bigger clutches, pick food wisely. Not "never feed" https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Feeding_the_Birds_at... Darryl on research gate: https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contri…
I can vouch for this approach. I lived in the territory of a couple of ravens (close relatives of crows; just as smart and twice as large) and it took me maybe 18 months to build a close relationship. I started out just talking to them and throwing whole peanuts (roasted, unsalted) on the ground while I was doing it. They looked at me warily and did not come close. Later on, the peanuts would disappear, but I was nev…
I belong to an ancestor worshiping culture(தமிழ்|Tamizh), Crows have very high reverence here as they're believed to be carrying our ancestors soul. So each day many people here feed the crows first with rice before breakfast and on new moon day many undergo fasting, Make special food and give it to the crows first. Obviously crows , Extraordinarily intelligent as they are keep perfect timings for their food and seem…
Of course like you said, we caw for them and give them food during festivals and anniversaries of deaths of ancestors.