Hey everyone!
I was wondering if anyone can tell me if the following is normal behaviour for Torresian crows? We’ve attracted some feral pigeons to our backyard seed feeder for several years, along with the native pale headed Rosellas, toressian crows, and crested pigeons. The feral pigeons have a tough time of things disease wise, and typically we lose around half the flock or more after the main breeding season. I often find their dead bodies in dark places around our home, such as under the house, bushes and trees…its normal for me to find.around half a dozen or more bodies per month from November to January. Sometimes I discover them when they are emaciated but still alive and I have observed that they can suffer for many days until they pass away. In those cases I have sometimes taken them to wildlife carers or vets if I can catch them (who euthanise them).
But this year the Crows have stopped ignoring the sick birds and dead bodies and instead have started to eat them for some reason. Last week I saw a group of them kill a very ill pigeon in my neighbour’s yard, and then they ate it all within several hours. They are messy killers and it doesn’t happen fast, but at least its better than the poor pigeon suffering for week from a horrible deadly disease.
I’m not really sure why the Crow’s behavior has changed? Can anyone offer any suggestions? ===============================
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When I kept pigeons years ago, I would capture wild pigeons living around schools, etc. They came from squalid conditions, the roosts and nest sites being inches deep in droppings and deceased birds.
There were sick birds, but not that many. I may be wrong, but I would have thought if any species was capable of shaking off a disease infecting a flock, it would be feral pigeons.
Is it possible that the dying crows have been affected by the birds they ate?
Peter Shute
Dear Peter & Storm,
I really hate seeing the feral pigeons suffer, so I’ve tried to learn more about their ailments. What I think is happening with them is they have a highly contagious bacterial infection in their flock, probably salmonella or e-coli. You can tell from their droppings (ie diarrhea) , emaciation, and rapid death. The problem with these bacterial diseases is many of the flock who have recovered from it will be carriers for life, and also the bacteria can live for years in the soil and even in the air. So you can’t really control it in wild populations. I had a wildlife carer check 3 of my dying wild pigeons this month for canker, and they couldn’t see any signs in their throat, so I think its not the primary cause of death in most cases (but may be present as a secondary infection). We’ve also had some sudden crow deaths this year, they were all emaciated when I found their bodies. So I’m not sure what to do.
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I don’t know if crows killing or eating pigeons is normal, but the sickness rate in “your” flock seems unusually high. It makes me wonder if they’re being poisoned.
Perhaps you should raise that possibility next time you take one to a vet, if you haven’t already.
Peter Shute