Things you need to know about ROOKS!

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  • Опубликовано: 14 ноя 2024
  • If you have ever seen a group of large black birds, nesting close together near to farmland, the chances are high that you’ve been looking at rooks. These are members of the crow family and their communal nesting sites are known as rookeries.
    Rooks are communal birds that nest, feed and roost in large flocks throughout the year. Sometimes there can be several hundred birds in one patch of trees. They are omnivores and use their featherless beaks to probe into mud for worms, beetles and other invertebrates. They will also occasionally eat carrion, birds eggs, grains and seeds and they will sometimes scavenge for scraps. They rely on large trees for nesting and roosting and their main habitat is agricultural areas, farmland and grassland although they can also be seen in urban places such as graveyards and large parks.
    Rooks form long lasting pair bonds and often remain monogamous for life. Each pair will start to build their nests early in the year, usually during February and March but sometimes as early as January. These are high in the branches of large trees and can be just a metre or so away from other nests. Living so closely together does mean that the twigs they use for nest building are in high demand, and they are known to steal twigs from eachothers nests. To prevent this, the female usually guards the nest site whilst the male collects twigs and mud to bind the nest together with. Once the nest is complete, it is lined with wool, moss, leaves and sometimes even hair before the female lays between 3 and 5 pale greeney blue eggs with darker patches. These measure about 4cm long and she will incubate these alone for 15 to 16 days before they hatch. Both parents feed the chicks in the nest for 32 to 34 days when they are ready to fledge. After this, the young birds are fed by their parents outside of the nest for many more weeks until they are able to look after themselves. Some will then disperse to other rookeries whilst some will stay in the same area where they were raised into the autumn. Young rooks look very similar to adults but their bills are black, have feathers running along their tops and they lack the featherless patch at their bills base. Each pair of rooks will only nest once per year, but will maintain a close bond with their partner outside of the nesting season, feeding and roosting together. Amazingly some rookeries can last a very long time, there are several in the UK that have been in the same place for more than 100 years.
    Just like other members of the crow family, rooks are really intelligent, they understand how to use basic tools almost to the same level as a chimpanzee and in one experiment a rook quickly learnt that adding rocks to water would raise the water level and make floating food that was previously out of reach available.
    There are around 980 thousand pairs of rooks in the UK, but this represents a decline of about 20% over the past 25 years. Outside of the UK they are found across mainland Europe, into southern Russia and as far east as northern China. They have also been introduced to New Zealand, where they are treated as a pest and there are ongoing efforts to eradicate them. In some of their northern ranges they sometimes move south in cold winters but over most of their range they are resident all year round. The oldest rook ever recorded lived for 22 years and 11 months exactly, but they have an average lifespan of about 6 years. Here is one of the rooks calls.
    Thanks to Fotolainen for providing some of the footage used in this video, the original video can be found here: • 234. Rook nest archite...
    Some of the other footage and images used are creative commons, the originals and their licence details can be found at:
    • Rooks in Thornbury [Br...
    • Autumn rooks's ambienc...
    • Crow (rook) on a tree ...
    • (Birding Video) Rook [...
    • Saatkrähe
    • Corbeau freux (Corvus ...
    • Dusky Rookery
    • Corbeau freux (Corvus ...
    • Corvus frugilegus - Ha...
    • Havran polní (Corvus f...
    • Corbeau freux (Corvus ...
    • ミヤマガラス 美しい日本の野鳥 1月
    • Krähe gegen Walnuss
    • Пасущиеся галки и грачи
    • hallvaresed künnivares...
    • Грач клюёт пластиковый...
    • Грач
    • Вороны, галки и грачи ...
    commons.wikime...
    www.flickr.com...
    #rooks #crows #ukwildlife

Комментарии • 111

  • @AShotOfWildlife
    @AShotOfWildlife  3 месяца назад +1

    Thank you for watching this video and taking a look at the comments!
    If you would like to support me to make even more videos, please consider my Patreon which can be found here> www.patreon.com/ashotofwildlife
    Cheers.

  • @daddyjayplays31
    @daddyjayplays31 9 месяцев назад +15

    Me and my two boys are named after the birds under the Corvidae Family. My name is Jay, my oldest is Raven and youngest Jackdaw. My wife is now pregnant and we are planning to name our child Magpie if girl, Rook if boy.

  • @QigongGreyDragon
    @QigongGreyDragon Год назад +11

    I love rooks. They walk like gansters and they love a rich tea biscuit.

  • @YvonneWilson312
    @YvonneWilson312 Год назад +20

    My favourite British bird ever since I was a child - I love their inquisitiveness, their intelligence and their cheeky attitude. Such fun to watch and study!

    • @petrichor649
      @petrichor649 11 месяцев назад

      Met one in Oxfordshire today, it just hopped over to where I sat, wanting a feed, it was incredible.

    • @SrankWrid
      @SrankWrid 11 месяцев назад

      This place is rooky

    • @sonictheheadshock756
      @sonictheheadshock756 8 месяцев назад

      Me to now I don't need an alarm to wake up at 6:00 in the morning. They go rarr rarr rarr 😵‍💫😱😩😅

  • @adriandurrant6025
    @adriandurrant6025 Год назад +8

    They're highly inteligent... I'm a train driver and see how clever they are. Unlike other birds they understand that the train goes along the track. They feed on birds that get hit by the trains but they get out of the way fast when a train is coming. They sometimes seem to play chicken and I suspect they might be teaching their youngsters to avoid the trains. Believe it or not they actually sometimes put ballast stones on the rails. I am completely certain it's them doing it. I've no idea why they do it.

    • @italia689
      @italia689 4 месяца назад

      They're corvids.

  • @BirdQuiz1
    @BirdQuiz1 Год назад +3

    Love rooks and all members of the crow family; thanks for sharing.

  • @williamrobinson7435
    @williamrobinson7435 Год назад +8

    Yes the similarity between young rooks and crows is one of the things that make it harder sometimes to differentiate between corvids.. Good job we have Liam to put us straight!
    I love all corvids, but you have to observe thier behaviours from thier own perspective to get the picture on just how clever (and sometimes amusing) they really are.
    Nice one Liam! ⭐👍

  • @SkylarkFields
    @SkylarkFields Год назад +3

    There is a rookery just down the road from me, and also a small one at the top end of my garden. It is VERY noisy here at breeding time. The young rooks make such a racket to be fed! The adult rooks also fly over our house and sometimes drop their twigs and branches on our roof with a clatter as they go! What I do like about rooks, apart from their intelligence which I have witnessed at our bird feeders, is when one sit on our TV aerial and seemingly talks to itself. Love to hear them do that. A soft conversational tone and odd clicking noises. They remind me a bit of parrots!

  • @tims9434
    @tims9434 Год назад +8

    Thanks for this video. Rooks are one of my favourite birds, great to understand them properly. ❤

  • @HelenaMikas
    @HelenaMikas 9 месяцев назад +4

    Great and yes I am a great lover of all Corvids .Shame they were introduced to NZ .No bird is a pest .People can be.Full marks to Germany and UK where we have Canada Geese , Nile geese and many more and accept them .Once on a bus I got off as a huge flock of crows were foraging for food on the grass verge .I sat with them and made a video..They made my day .Just as your videos do ..Greetings from Berlin or as I call it Crow city -

  • @neilbain8736
    @neilbain8736 Год назад +4

    I love their intelligence and general awareness. I told one off for going into a bin and pulling out a dirty nappy in a bag. It had a couple of trial nibbles and went back into the bin and with some effort pulled out a fast food box with chips and scraps.
    A week later I was at a bench with a bag of crisps and this rook swooped down low over me a couple of times so I said Hello, left some crisps on the bench and wandered off. I turned round and I swear it was looking as if it was pretending to ignore me by trying to keep out of sight behind the bin.
    I love the way they waddle too.

  • @JasminSchulze-vd3uc
    @JasminSchulze-vd3uc 11 месяцев назад +4

    Love them so much

  • @krns1695
    @krns1695 Год назад +3

    1:40 Here in Romania Rooks live in the city everywhere, busy streets, roundabouts, usually next to a body of water

  • @dts8356
    @dts8356 Месяц назад

    I'm fascinated by rooks in my area.
    In where I live (Northern Poland) rooks have ganged up with jackdaws- they fly together, travel together, even look for food together. I've noticed that they don't mind smaller birds being close to them as well (like pigeons or sparrows).
    Rooks also throw walnuts at the road to crack them. But I've noticed that some of them adjust the walnuts on the road, so a car can drive over it and crack it!
    On top of that, rooks are badasses. They usually stay away from bigger animals, but when they are pissed off, then they simply don't care how big you are, because they will be always bigger in numbers.
    And finally: I remember seeing a lot of seagulls in my city few years ago. They were TERRIBLE. Loud, dirty, they abused smaller birds like jackdaws and even hunted for sparrows from time to time. I remember seeing them fight a lot with rooks, either in air or on ground. Years has passed and I haven't seen any seagulls at all. I'm not sure why, but I think that rooks might be one of the reasons.

  • @alanjust
    @alanjust Год назад +4

    Thanks Liam! Yet another great video!

  • @rachaels6989
    @rachaels6989 Год назад +2

    We have a large rookery in a park in the town I live on the outskirts of. Every evening at dusk, hundreds, maybe even a thousand birds fly together back and forth landing in trees around where I am located and eventually settle back in their home in the park. It's a fascinating sight I never grow tired of. I wonder why they do this though.

  • @richarddevaottien7724
    @richarddevaottien7724 Год назад +1

    You're an oasis on RUclips, Liam, thanks. 😊 When the KoolAid kicks in, the wildlife will have Earth solely to themselves again

  • @InfernalPasquale
    @InfernalPasquale Год назад +6

    Seeing our local rooks murmurate this year was one of the most special memories of the year. There were 1000s of them!

    • @PaIaeoCIive1684
      @PaIaeoCIive1684 Год назад +2

      Silly question, but you're not confusing them with starlings, are you?

    • @InfernalPasquale
      @InfernalPasquale Год назад +1

      They are actually jackdaws, I always get them mixed up with rooks. Murmuration may not be the right word, but twice this year we have seen thousands appear from the village trees and nearby forest and behave just like starlings, but with the added benefit of the incredible sounds the jackdaws make.

    • @PaIaeoCIive1684
      @PaIaeoCIive1684 Год назад +1

      @@InfernalPasquale Ah, cheeky little jackdaws. There's a large population ruling the roost in Bushy Park near me. They specialise there in treats like the dung beetles living in deer poo - I've seen them skilfully teasing it apart to gobble them. One chap asked me if the jackdaws bothering him were 'baby crows'. In a way, yes.

    • @natural8677
      @natural8677 7 месяцев назад +1

      we have rooks which do this pretty much every evening all together and then they settle down in separate groups in the trees in our village

  • @Milliondollarcup
    @Milliondollarcup 6 месяцев назад +1

    The corvid family are like those military dudes that sport an all black tactical gear but the rooks are the ones that wear the skull balaclava

  • @RookAdmirer
    @RookAdmirer Год назад +1

    Love rooks. Been watching them hide acorns this year.

  • @CandiceSteinhobel
    @CandiceSteinhobel 4 месяца назад

    This was very helpful for my bird watching.

  • @Crow_Friend
    @Crow_Friend Год назад +8

    Interesting how the juves look just like Crows, and also the adults behave and sound just like Crows too from what i've observed - apart from their more complex social structure; Eg nesting together in close proximity (something Crows just don't do.) But those beaks! So different, and very dinosaur. Almost like they are designed to dig into carrion like a Vultures. I always wonder how, and why Crows and Rooks evolved together and the reasons for the branching and diversification of the two species. Who came first, the Crow or the Rook? ....Or the Raven?

    • @daveyjones18
      @daveyjones18 Год назад +1

      If we could remeber our different shaped ancestors (like Neanderthals), and how they had similar tools and weapons to us, then I'm sure we could easily answer those questions 🤔

  • @S.A.N.
    @S.A.N. Год назад +2

    Awesome, i never knew this. Thank you. I have always seen them as the ugly brother of the beautiful crow.

  • @horusfalcon
    @horusfalcon Год назад +4

    Very nice treatment of the subject - Rooks are interesting birds from this first look. Thank you.

  • @SlowLivingSligo
    @SlowLivingSligo 3 месяца назад

    Great video. One of my favourite birds. 😊

  • @thecobraeffectyt
    @thecobraeffectyt Год назад +6

    Really interesting! I love corvids. I wonder what drove them to evolve such remarkable intelligence - most birds seem to be reasonably smart, but corvids are just on another level.

    • @PaIaeoCIive1684
      @PaIaeoCIive1684 Год назад +1

      The rooks occasionally feed at our bird table, competing with crows and squirrels. I've watched them snatch a podded peanut from a crouching squirrel and fly off before the squirrel can reclaim it.

  • @patrickcorcoran889
    @patrickcorcoran889 Год назад +2

    I love Rooks and Corvids - that was a great and informative video - thank you - subscribed to your channel.

    • @AShotOfWildlife
      @AShotOfWildlife  7 месяцев назад

      Thank you and a belated welcome to the channel. I hope you have enjoyed some of the other videos I have uploaded.

  • @Robbnlinzi
    @Robbnlinzi Год назад +4

    I never knew about the rook! Now I do lol

  • @dkirk5814
    @dkirk5814 Год назад +3

    Beautifully made video with unobtrusive background music. Thanks.

  • @IbnBahtuta
    @IbnBahtuta Год назад +1

    I remember visiting Brora (GB) in the 50's as a child and watching the rooks in the trees surrounding the village cemetery. They looked really ominous to a seven-year-old.

  • @bernardshieldstysonfive1009
    @bernardshieldstysonfive1009 Год назад +4

    Hi Liam brilliant video thank you love the information you give to all of your videos they are fascinating birds to watch keep up with all your amazing videos and work Bernard

  • @patricianunes3521
    @patricianunes3521 Год назад +5

    Loved this video. Also watched the crow one you suggested when this one finished. Always love your videos.

    • @AShotOfWildlife
      @AShotOfWildlife  Год назад +1

      That's brilliant, thanks for watching the videos and supporting the channel.

  • @scathatch
    @scathatch Год назад +2

    Thankyou for this video.

  • @timroot4207
    @timroot4207 Год назад +3

    Thank you !!!

  • @paulwarner5674
    @paulwarner5674 Год назад +4

    That was brilliant. ❤❤

  • @martyndormer
    @martyndormer Год назад +1

    There was a rookery at the bottom of my father’s land in Worcestershire. Daddy had a pet African Grey parrot called Henry which used to sit on a bar in the garden, but my father forgot to clip his wings and Henry took off one day, just when the rooks were nesting. We never saw him again.

  • @aprillroberts
    @aprillroberts Год назад +2

    I absolutely love your videos. 👍

  • @phoenixdundee
    @phoenixdundee Год назад +1

    I live in the north east of Scotland and the only corvid we are missing are Ravens. Lots of Rooks though!

  • @scathatch
    @scathatch Год назад +1

    I adore rooks.

  • @johnsweeney1712
    @johnsweeney1712 Год назад +1

    Great video. Thank you for the education. Keep up the good work.

  • @LaureninGermany
    @LaureninGermany Год назад +4

    Fantastic, thank you!

  • @RossMaynardProcessExcellence
    @RossMaynardProcessExcellence Год назад +1

    Great video. There are some Rooks in our semi-rural neighborhood. A video on Ravens would be most welcome. They seem rarer.

  • @Jaded-Wanderer
    @Jaded-Wanderer Год назад +2

    Another super video.

  • @philiptaylor7902
    @philiptaylor7902 Год назад

    Hi Liam, Rooks are so intelligent it’s even suggest they have some kind of rudimentary language. Not sure what to make of that, but when you listen to their complex chatter in the rookery it sounds very much like conversation.

  • @Fotolainen
    @Fotolainen Год назад

    Great and fluent video, Liam! My neighbourhood has a Nature Reserve and their colony starts literally from it's border. They are wise politically as well :) Nobody can touch their nests there.

  • @brentnearhood8874
    @brentnearhood8874 Год назад +2

    Thanks!🪶

  • @barkershill
    @barkershill 6 месяцев назад +1

    I was surprised to hear you say that rooks have declined in numbers recently . Here in Dorset I am seeing their nests in places I have never seen them before . For some reason I cannot begin to fathom they frequently build in ash trees next to a busy road . All sensible replies welcome

    • @AShotOfWildlife
      @AShotOfWildlife  6 месяцев назад

      I think their numbers going down is perhaps overshadowed because they seem to be moving closer to urban environments and therefore are seen more often. I have no idea why they pick ash trees near roads though.

  • @indyreno2933
    @indyreno2933 Месяц назад

    Rook Classification:
    Kingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Chordata
    Subphylum: Vertebrata
    Class: Aves
    Subclass: Neornithes
    Superorder: Telluraves
    Grandorder: Coraciopasserea
    Mirorder: Passerimorphae
    Order: Passeriformes
    Suborder: Passeri
    Infraorder: Corvides
    Parvorder: Corvida
    Superfamily: Corvoidea
    Family: Corvidae
    Subfamily: Corvinae
    Tribe: Coloeini
    Genus: Rucus
    Species: R. frugilegus

  • @patricksmith4424
    @patricksmith4424 Год назад +2

    Rooks have got much rarer. I grew up in rural Norfolk in the 70s and Rooks were everywhere often in flocks of hundreds. Their favoured rookery was often a big oak tree in a park like setting and their haunting cries would form a real countryside backdrop. On going to Norfolk more recently you just don't see them any more. I don't think farmers liked them, you used to see them strung up on gibbets. I suppise just like with so many birds now the countryside is no home for them now. Unlike their, carrion relatives they don't seem to have come into the cities which is a shame as it would be an ideal environment for Rooks.

  • @Heretic911G
    @Heretic911G Месяц назад

    Rooks are extroverted.

  • @雲大銓-i1e
    @雲大銓-i1e 4 месяца назад

    ❤有智慧的是美麗❤

  • @kruno7150
    @kruno7150 Год назад

    amazing species

  • @Black.Rose89-n1r
    @Black.Rose89-n1r Год назад +1

    Thank u 😊

  • @chrisboll1515
    @chrisboll1515 Год назад

    I recently saw a lot of chasing off a sparrow hawk, the noise overhead made me look up at what was happening

  • @missapippin9020
    @missapippin9020 Год назад +6

    Thank you Liam. I really enjoyed this video and learned more about Rooks. What clever intelligent birds they are. Are crows, rooks and ravens very similar? Love you video content. Thank you.

    • @horusfalcon
      @horusfalcon Год назад +2

      I'm not Liam, but my experiences with crows and ravens in the US would indicate a similar degree of intelligence. I don't really know that much about their mating or nesting behavior, but crows, especially, are greatly attracted to shiny objects and are very curious.

    • @PaIaeoCIive1684
      @PaIaeoCIive1684 Год назад +1

      I tested crows and rooks by suspending cooked chicken attached to a long piece of string in a glass bottle, only an inch of string emerging from the bottle top. At first they just peered at the chicken and poked the glass trying to get at it, some pulling on the string but failing to get the chicken all the way up. Minutes later one pulled the string from the bottle, taking the prize. Both crows and rooks could solve this test, both resorting to pushing the bottle over to make pulling the string easier. Smart birds.

    • @AShotOfWildlife
      @AShotOfWildlife  Год назад +1

      Thank you. They are quite similar in appearance and intelligence levels. I have done a video about the differences between them titled " how to identify the crows of the UK". I would post a link, but I'm on my phone so it's hard to do.

    • @PaIaeoCIive1684
      @PaIaeoCIive1684 Год назад +1

      @@AShotOfWildlife Think I watched it when I discovered your site a while ago. I don't comment on many videos unless I've not got much work on. Keep up the good work!

  • @EdMcF1
    @EdMcF1 Год назад +3

    They are the only birds that play chess.

  • @clivemitchell4316
    @clivemitchell4316 Год назад

    I often see rooks and jackdaws congregate, when on the ground feeding.

  • @56Seeker
    @56Seeker Год назад +5

    Would it be possible to do a survey video on nest types?
    I see a lot of nests out riding, they're obviously species specific, but I'm crap at identifying them.

    • @AShotOfWildlife
      @AShotOfWildlife  Год назад +1

      Thanks for the suggestion. The issue is that so many nests look similar and the differences are small enough to not be able to show them clearly in a video.

  • @zoeilobowdery8778
    @zoeilobowdery8778 5 месяцев назад

    I have a room at my stables he is my friend I chat to him he lived in the trees around my yard I share my cereal bar with him he likes them I call him Bob and when I say hello Bob he comes and he always knows where I am even when I'm in my hat barn he finds me 🇬🇧🇫🇴

  • @dexocube
    @dexocube Год назад +2

    I'm crazy for corvids

  • @MrTrick.
    @MrTrick. Год назад +1

    Any chance of a video on Hooded Crows? There are loads here in Cyprus.

    • @PaIaeoCIive1684
      @PaIaeoCIive1684 Год назад +1

      In Britain, these are only seen regularly in Scotland and Ireland. Liam would be lucky to see one where he lives in East Anglia, but might get lucky if a migrant from Scandinavia flies in.

  • @permller9671
    @permller9671 Год назад

    In Denmark, the rooks live in large groups together with jackdaws. I have always wondered why these two different species live together

  • @tenmiltenmil1770
    @tenmiltenmil1770 Год назад +1

    ❤️❤️❤️🥰🥰🥰🌹🌹🌹👍👍👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️😊😊😊

  • @jillatherton4660
    @jillatherton4660 Год назад +1

    😄👍

  • @kinngm2427
    @kinngm2427 5 месяцев назад

    They move in straight lines

  • @jeremystill5442
    @jeremystill5442 Год назад

    👍👍👍👍👍

  • @raphlvlogs271
    @raphlvlogs271 Год назад +1

    were rooks ever introduced to far away places by European colonists?

    • @AShotOfWildlife
      @AShotOfWildlife  Год назад

      Yes, but only to New Zealand apparently. I suspect they were taken to other places but perhaps they did not survive- or it hasnt been written about at least.

  • @vickyking3408
    @vickyking3408 9 месяцев назад

    They gather on the church and my roof most mornings from first day light then stay for about 20 minutes then fly off

  • @bastonor
    @bastonor Год назад

    6 years, that's a really short lifespan compared to the 40 wild and seventy years in domesticated jackdaws..

  • @gerrimilner9448
    @gerrimilner9448 Год назад +3

    we all know that a group of crows is a murder, though 2or3 could be called an attempted murder.
    a group of rooks is called a parliament, or a clamour, where im from ive heard both; either way i say good day, because brits are a superstious lot.

    • @PaIaeoCIive1684
      @PaIaeoCIive1684 Год назад +1

      @robertstallard7836 Ah yes. If you see a lone magpie it's bad luck and you're meant to doff your hat and say "hello Mr Magpie, how's your lovely wife?", otherwise bad luck will befall you. "One for sorrow, two for joy.." and all that.

    • @PaIaeoCIive1684
      @PaIaeoCIive1684 Год назад +1

      @robertstallard7836 Ah, you let the black and white blighters get away with too much: "Captain", indeed! They do strut around as if they own the place, don't they? Though I find the cheeky characters a lot of fun, they don't always deserve the salute. Should get a one-finger salute at nesting time when they're raiding songbird nests! Got to admit I still recite the line (whether husband or wife bird) if I see a lone magpie. My great-uncle on a Somerset farm told me about magpie lore, when he wasn't blasting them and other corvids to bits as 'pests' with his shotgun.

    • @kubotwostringz
      @kubotwostringz 5 месяцев назад +1

      I "knew" I will find something interesting if I continue diggin' through the comments 😃

  • @PartridgeZachary
    @PartridgeZachary Месяц назад

    96793 Kuvalis Summit

  • @TheLordOfBeans
    @TheLordOfBeans 5 месяцев назад

    My name is rook

  • @JoshJackson-lq7tj
    @JoshJackson-lq7tj Год назад +2

    I thought they were also related to ravens obviously not

    • @Crow_Friend
      @Crow_Friend Год назад

      I think all corvids are related.. Ravens are the daddies though.

  • @Bignfluffy
    @Bignfluffy Год назад +2

    Is there any possibility that you could cover the stoat? Amazing little creatures

    • @AShotOfWildlife
      @AShotOfWildlife  Год назад

      Absolutely! They're on my list, but I haven't got/found enough footage of them yet.