A Feast for Crows Trivia Quiz

Answer: False

The main difference between the carrion crow and the hooded crow is that the latter often feed in a flock. At one time, the two species were considered to be the same. The hooded crow has more grey feathers than the carrion crow, but they can interbreed.

There are many birds that are members of the crow family including rooks. As a child I learned to tell the difference between the two related birds by an old saying; A rook on its own is a crow, but a lots of crows together are rooks.

Answer: Flies on cow-pats

The Western jackdaw enjoys life on the farm. Another food they particularly enjoy is earthworms in freshly plowed soil.

Answer: Make their own tools

New Caledonian crows break twigs from trees or bushes and then adapt them to fit the job at hand. They also snip strips off leaves so they can use the hooks along the leaf edge. Even chimpanzees cannot do this.

Answer: True

Ravens are members of the crow family. There are actually seven semi-tame ravens at the Tower as one is kept in reserve. Tradition has it that the Tower and therefore the kingdom will fall, should the ravens leave. The flight feathers from one wing are clipped to prevent them from flying away.

Answer: By dropping them from a height onto rocks

Crows seem to have a favourite rock to use for smashing snails, as you will often find a lot of broken shells in the same place.

Answer: Putting nuts on the road so they are opened by the traffic

There are several videos demonstrating this feat to be found online, including one by the distinguished British naturalist, Sir David Attenborough. The crows drop the nuts onto the road surface and, if that does not work, they wait for the traffic to do its work.

Then the crow will dodge in and out of the traffic to get their reward. In some places, the crows will leave the nuts on crossing places so that they can eat in relative safety while the traffic is stopped at the red lights.

Answer: Store acorns so they have a food supply in winter

Although jays will eat eggs and young birds like other members of the crow family, their preferred diet is acorns. They will eat from bird tables though when forced to through lack of natural supplies. A jay occasionally visits my Norfolk garden and eats crusts along with the rest of the bird visitors.

Answer: Used pebbles to raise water level to reach food

In the experiment at Cambridge University, worms were placed in water filled tubes and presented to the birds. The birds learned to drop stones into the tube to raise the water level and bring a worm into reach of their beaks. They even learned to use larger stones to get their food quicker.

Answer: Exploding toads

Toads have two major defence mechanisms; they have poisonous skins and swell when threatened. Flocks of ravens discovered that one peck to puncture the skin allowed them to extract the nutritious livers from the toads with no significant harm to themselves. Unfortunately the toads continued to swell and eventually exploded.

Answer: Murder

The scientific term for a group of crows is a flock. There are several best guesses to be found explaining the use of murder for the flock and my particular favourite is the suggestion the sound they make sounds like "bloody murder"!