The
Birds of Lochranza Campsite
A
hooded crow, a common bird with uncommon ability
Spring truly arrives here at the end of April in an
explosion of yellow whin blossom (whin is also known as gorse). Did you ever
play the children’s game in which someone holds a buttercup under your chin to
see if you like butter? The bright yellow of the flower reflects on your skin
and you are told you like butter. The whin blossom reminds me of this because
the butter-coloured bushes illuminate the hills above them at this time of year.
Birdsong is a soundtrack that doesn’t cease in the hours of daylight; the
cuckoo calls hopefully to prospective mates, and the lambs have become
confident enough to leave their mothers and join up as gangs that chase wildly round
the bunkers.
In Lochranza we keep having a quick look upwards throughout
the day to see the golden eagles soaring serenely above the glen. However, the
birds we get to know best are the ones who make a choice to share life on the
campsite. Every year we watch for the swallows’ return to their old nests in
our sheds (they’ve just arrived as I write this) as well as the starling that
nests in a hole in the big tree stump, sticking out its scruffy black head now
and then like a wee chimney sweep. Our most familiar bird is the hooded crow
who probably knows much more about us than we know about her or him. She/ he is
a large and impressive-looking member of the crow family with a glossy black
head and an intelligent expression, a black bib, elegant steel grey plumage and
dark grey wings, tail and legs. She is in the habit of sitting on our balcony looking
at us through the window. If I put meat scraps out for her she croaks three
times (always three!) and then four other members of the family appear and all
get a bit of food; this might not be language but it’s certainly a
communication system. She strides jerkily and flies a bit like an aircraft
carrier, low and slow, but mainly she spends her time keeping campsite life
under surveillance. In fact, as tough, clever and adaptable birds, ‘hoodies’
are renowned for their problem-solving abilities. According to the 2016 Arran
Bird Report the crow family is ‘considered to be the most intelligent of the
birds’ with a ‘brain-to-body mass ratio equal to that of great apes’.
The Bird Report explains how hooded crows and carrion crows
are closely related. In the last Ice Age they developed plumage differences
during their occupation of two ice free areas: one in the Balkans and one in
the Iberian Peninsula. Today, their European distribution reveals hoodies in
the east and the all black carrion crow in the west EXCEPT in a narrow zone of
overlap which includes Arran and where interbreeding takes place which can
produce fertile hybrids – look out for these birds with their variable amounts
of black and grey plumage.
There are a lot of jackdaws to be seen around the
campsite too. They are sometimes confused with hoodies because of their dark
heads. However, jackdaws are smaller than hoodies and usually operate in large
groups, sometimes landing on sheep and deer to peck off parasites, a service
the animals seem to appreciate. For recognising the differences between similar
birds take a look at: www.bto.org/about-birds/bird-id
The Arran Bird Report is full of interesting records and
information and this year’s copy (Arran Bird Report 2016) is now available in
shops round the island.
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