[All pictures of garden wildlife on this page are thumbnails. Click on any thumbnail for a large format to be displayed.]

Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) and Hooded Crow (Corvus corone cornix)

Clickhere for the bird's sound.

The Carrion Crow (photo left) and the Hooded Crow (photo right).

Although the Carron Crow and the Hooded Crow two birds look quite different, they belong to the same species. The Carrion Crow (or Black Crow) occupies the western parts of Europe, while the Hooded Crow occupies the eastern part. The border between the two species runs somewhere over central Europe. In Holland the Hooded Crow is a rarity, but in Poland the Carrion Crow is. The two Crows easily make up pairs. I sometimes see the Carrion Crow taking a walk in my garden. It's not a forest bird and having preference for open spaces it visits meadows and farmland more frequently. In winter they do sometimes form small flocks, but normally you just see a pair of them.Crows are considered to be among the most intelligent animals in the world. They are capable of using tools and even making tools.

The Carrion Crow was sitting in the tree in front of my window long enough for me to capture a couple of portraits.

Sometimes on the beaches along the North Sea Hooded Crows are also seen overwintering"

This bird belongs to the family of Crows (Corvidae). In my old garden the Carrion Crow was somehow a very rare bird, but in Holland it can be seen all year round. The bird is 19" and weighs 550 grams. It lives in farmland, woodland, coasts and parks mostly. It eats almost everything. The sexes do not differ from one another. It is not easy to tell the Crow apart from its close relative the Rook. The bills are different though: the Crows is black and the Rooks is light. Crows make their nest in trees from March to June. She lays a very varying number of eggs, usually between three and eight. The chicks hatch after only 18 days, but they remain in the nest for some 32 days.