Like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, these fish crows are often seen in very large flocks.

The Fish crow can often be mistaken for the American Crow. They are a little smaller in size. They are often seen in large flocks, I see them quite often this time of year. They will land in the tallest scrub pine trees and squawk very loudly. They often sound like they are saying ah-ah so I always yell back to them “Yes!”.

They are extremely intelligent birds and have been known to be able to count, solve puzzles, and retain memory. They will often drop snails or mollusks from high in the sky onto a hard surface below in order to get to their prize.

Fish crows are also known to be very good scavengers and thieves stealing not only human items but other bird’s eggs and hatchlings. I often see them being chased by Mocking Birds and I always wondered why until I saw one flying away with a young Mocking bird chick in it’s beak as the Mocking Bird Parents did all they could to free the trapped hatchling but it’s a Bird eat Bird world and it’s all part of the food chain even if fish crows are cannibals.

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Florida’s State bird is often heard more than seen.

The Northern Mockingbird is The Florida State Bird. They are very very good singers and really live up to their scientific name polyglottos which means many voices. They often perch at the highest point in a tree and sing away with a quite an amazing song. They will imitate other birds, mammals, machines and musical instruments.

The will hunt insects and eat berries. I have seen them standing in the grass lifting their wings and then slamming them down just to scare a bug out into the open. One time I watched one fly down onto the road several times and each time eating something quite small. I had to investigate and see what the Mockingbird was eating. He kept landing several feet from our garbage cans which were on the curb waiting to be picked up. Earlier that night a raccoon or opossum had been in the garbage cans and removed the lids and tore open the garbage bags making a nice mess. This mockingbird was eating the fly larva that were escaping the recently torn bags. Yeah I know it sounds gross that this mockingbird was eating maggots but he didn’t seem to mind not one bit.

They are very brave birds, especially for their size. I have seen them countless times chasing larger birds such as hawks and crows and dive bombing them in mid air. They do this because these larger birds will raid the Mockingbirds nests and steal the eggs or the young hatchlings. I have aslo seen them dive bomb a cat and land on the cat’s rear scaring the cat away and making the cat become quite an acrobat.

They are very common and have adapted well to city life.

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