UKC

Hi. 

Is this a raven? 

Huge brain / head and feathery leg bits.

That head is bigger than the carrion crows I normally see.

'Bristle head' display:

http://therattlingcrow.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-bristle-head-crows.html

Thanks! That's very informative.

I've seen them do it before but didn't realise it was a territory thing. presumably the intruder is the one on the left with submissive pose?

Blackbirds do it as well.

The blackbirds whose territory includes our garden tend not to exhibit head enlargement by ruffling up but seeing one with this display is a pretty sure sign here that it is one that is intruding (and under stress)

Fortunately the residents have certain characteristics that let us identify them in other ways

Yes. I feed them and always try get some to the submissive ones too.

The Magpies don't give a flying fuk and swoop in fast to get the choice bits

Hmmm... it says of Carrion Crows "...Birds that don't hold a territory form part of a loose flock that roosts communally, usually in large trees..."  I think I may have been pointing out these crows to my kids "correcting" them that they are Rooks because a crow in a crowd is a rook.

Bother!!!   (nobody needs tell the kids, OK)

Too urban for a raven. In fact I used to think ravens were mountain specialists but here in France I am assured they are local to the lower rolling hilly zones well to the N of the Pyrenees, where they make a nuisance of themselves predating duck farms.

Whereas here they make a nuisance of themselves predating on stray rucksacks.

Ravens nest on Wigan town hall, raising the average IQ level  

it happened to you ??

The lid of mine got unzipped below Rannoch Wall a few years ago. I'm aware of their talents though so they were out of luck.

I'd have said a rook, though it lacks the white face

Lovely oic but scale?

Should have placed a banana next to it.

Northern towns Victorian era town halls are popular nesting sites for ravens and/or peregrines.

As BC posted, Wigan is one. There have been years where ravens and peregrines have both nested on Bolton town hall, on opposite sides apparently 😁

Although ravens aren't really urban, they are frequently spotted flying over urban areas.

I don't think the beak looks right for a Rook. See rooks a lot at motorway services (for some reason) and their beaks are very large and distinctive. 

I read that ravens used to regularly rob rucksacks left at the bealachs on the cuillin ridge (not only zips but buckles and ties) until people started putting rocks on them. Seems that the ravens have learnt that rucksacks are now off limits so now ok not to put rocks on..

got close to a jay today..

https://photos.app.goo.gl/etCauU8gioAnjPxMA

interesting fact from wiki:

Before humans began planting the trees commercially on a wide scale, Eurasian jays were the main source of movement and propagation for the European oak (Q. robur), each bird having the ability to spread more than a thousand acorns each year.

Agree: a rook's bill is proportionally longer and a tad slimmer than a crow's - "dart like" is one description I've come across to differentiate it from the crow's.  The crow's upper mandible also dips downwards towards the tip much more than the rook's, giving it a similar, but slightly less intimidating, profile to the raven's massive, hook-tipped bill.

The nasal feathering is also clearly visible on the bill of the highlighted bird.  Juvenile rooks have this plumage feature as well, up until about the end of their second year, but it's rather scruffier than on the adult crow - and actually tends to smooth out the transition between the "dart-like" bill and the forehead.  It's when they lose the nasal feathering towards adulthood that they develop the distinctive 'notch' between bill and forehead which gives them the domed head shape.  It's also at that age that the root of the bill turns whiteish.

Bottom line: if it were a rook, the plumage would make it a juvenile and thus pretty unlikely to be behaving aggressively towards a mature carrion crow.

We spotted a juvenile rook on an East Lothian beach the other week; it didn't look the smartest cookie in the box.  Unlike the beachcombing crows, four of whom were very quick to notice two humans sitting down in a sheltered spot out of the biting wind and getting out their sandwiches.  They hung around hopefully at a discreet distance - and yes, more than a few morsels of our lunch did end up being tossed in their direction, which they appeared to appreciate.

Omi-crow-n

Rooky error