Rooks.

by Englishman 14 Replies latest jw friends

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  Englishman

  This is a rook:

  Note the whitish beak and featherless face.

  Now take a look at a crow: This is a carrion crow. Black beak, face fully feathered.

  They're very, very similar. Genetically very close, feeding habits and habitat very similar too.

  So how do you tell them apart?

  Well, it's easy. If you see a lot of them together then they're rooks. If you see just one or two at a time, then they're crows. It's true, it's a simple as that.

  You see, crows are independant and like to do their own thing. Rooks, on the other hand, have to do everything en-masse and become terrified of being left on their own. Worse still, rooks become positively panic-stricken when a particularly bold member of the rookery decides to go off and do his own thing.

  If a very naughty rook decides that he wants out and maybe even start up his own rookery, he will be attacked and dive-bombed by the other members until he comes back into line. Only the most courageous and unusual rook will overcome his fear of being alone and stand firm whilst he does his own thing.

  Englishman.
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  Mutz

  If it's a crow in a crowd it's a rook. If it's a rook on it's own it's a crow. :)
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  fleaman uk

  I remember the Bill Oddie live Nature Programmes back in early summer showing a Crow shoo-ing off a Peregrine Falcon.!Tough old Birds...
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  Undecided

  There are no rooks here in NC. The crows seem to flock together also. I remember when I was growing up as a teenager I would try to shoot a crow, but they would always have one high in a tree looking for intruders and he would caw and they would all fly away. I never shot one, they were too smart for me.

  Ken P.
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  Gretchen956

  Rooks aren't in my "Birds of the Pacific Northwest" book. Don't think we have them here. I have not ever noticed the lighter color beak either. And yes, we do get flocks of them here too.

  Sherry
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  William Penwell

  Where I work it must be some sort of fly zone for crows because about 7 or 8 in the evening hundreds of them would fly through here, resting a bit on the telephone wires and after some time fly on. They are quiet intelligent to. One day my fellow worker came back after lunch and said one swooped down and hit him on the top of the head, for no apparent reason. Someone said maybe he was just having some fun. They can be brave if they are in a group to. Like someone else said earlier and I have seen them go after birds a lot bigger then them.

  Will
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  Insomniac

  I think your last two paragraphs said it all. So, we're all crows here, huh? I like that idea. Thanks for sharing this info.
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  seeitallclearlynow

  Worse still, rooks become positively panic-stricken when a particularly bold member of the rookery decides to go off and do his own thing.

  If a very naughty rook decides that he wants out and maybe even start up his own rookery, he will be attacked and dive-bombed by the other members until he comes back into line. Only the most courageous and unusual rook will overcome his fear of being alone and stand firm whilst he does his own thing.

  Englishman.

  I love this thread and this particular portion, Englishman!

  And I'm betting that since the crow is particularly bold and is courageous and unusual, he will stand firm whilst he does his own thing.
• 

  Farkel

  Hey Mike, old Friend!
  
  Nice to cya back and causing mischief.
  
  Did you know that a flock of crows on a telephone line or any other place they line up in a row is called a "murder" of crows? It's true.
  
  So what do they call a bunch of dubs lined up doing street work together?
  
  (Hint: lean towards "morons" and "idiots")
  
  :)
  
  Farkel
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  czarofmischief

  Well it's nothing to crow about.

  Is that why "rooks" in chess can only move in straight lines?

  CZAR