[EBB Sightings] American Crow Leapfrogging Canada Goose

	<4D6A371677654378B85A57385C19D8EE at ownerb84886c7a>

Gulls do the shell-drop thing all the time.... But if the crows are 
timing their walnut-release to take advantage of your car as a 
nutcracker, that's a whole new realm of avian expertise....

Re Tom Condit's
>> Gulls use this technique to crack clam and mussel shells all the
>> time. That's why you'll find fragments of shell lying around on
>> pavement (sidewalks, golf cart paths, etc.) near coastal waters.

Bob Hislop wrote:
 > Thanks!  I wasn't aware of that being a common behaviour.
 >

(earlier message:
>>> I haven't observed this kind of behavior, however I have observed
>>> a fairly creative behavior in (at least) one individual involving
>>> cracking walnuts. We have a walnut tree in our back yard, and
>>> every year a crow will come by, pick up a walnut off the ground,
>>> then fly it over the house and land on a power line over the
>>> street. After resting for a few moments on the line the crow will
>>> then fly upward (gaining altitude) and drop the walnut on the 
>>> street (trying to crack the shell). I have observed this creative
>>>  behavior several times, especially as I'm backing my car out of
>>> the driveway; and I'm wondering if this intelligent bird is
>>> timing this behavior so as to allow my car to run over and crack
>>> the nut!!  I can't imagine any other bird species being this
>>> creative.

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