Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

75%
+4 −0
Q&A Why would crows be dropping something into a pond?

Birds with young regularly clean their nest by removing droppings and usually deposit the results some distance away, presumably to avoid making the nest site too obvious to predators. Nestlings o...

posted 3y ago by Pastychomper‭  ·  edited 3y ago by Pastychomper‭

Answer
#3: Post edited by user avatar Pastychomper‭ · 2020-07-30T11:26:34Z (over 3 years ago)
Clarified that crows have faecal sacs.
  • Birds with young regularly clean their nest by removing droppings and usually deposit the results some distance away, presumably to avoid making the nest site too obvious to predators. Nestlings of some birds deposit their excrement inside [faecal sacs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_sac) to facilitate this cleaning. If you were in the northern hemisphere then it's very likely the crow did have young and was cleaning up.
  • I don't know why the crow chose a pond to drop them in, but it would be a good way to hide the detritus - crows are noted for their intelligence but not, as far as I know, for their concern over eutrophication.
  • Birds with young regularly clean their nest by removing droppings and usually deposit the results some distance away, presumably to avoid making the nest site too obvious to predators. Nestlings of some birds, [including crows](https://www.jstor.org/stable/1368982?seq=1), deposit their excrement inside [faecal sacs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_sac) which facilitate this cleaning. If you were in the northern hemisphere then it's very likely the crow did have young and was cleaning up.
  • I don't know why the crow chose a pond to drop them in, but it would be a good way to hide the detritus - crows are noted for their intelligence but not, as far as I know, for their concern over eutrophication.
#2: Post edited by user avatar Pastychomper‭ · 2020-07-30T11:17:53Z (over 3 years ago)
Added info. on faecal sacs - thanks to WP.
  • Birds with young regularly clean their nest by removing droppings and other debris and usually deposit the results some distance away, presumably to avoid making the nest site too obvious to predators. If you were in the northern hemisphere then it's very likely the crow did have young and was cleaning up. Shell fragments and bird droppings can both be white, and I gather chick faeces are usually solid enough for the parent to pick up in a lump.
  • I don't know why the crow chose a pond to drop them in, but it would be a good way to hide the detritus - crows are noted for their intelligence but not, as far as I know, for their concern over eutrophication.
  • Birds with young regularly clean their nest by removing droppings and usually deposit the results some distance away, presumably to avoid making the nest site too obvious to predators. Nestlings of some birds deposit their excrement inside [faecal sacs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_sac) to facilitate this cleaning. If you were in the northern hemisphere then it's very likely the crow did have young and was cleaning up.
  • I don't know why the crow chose a pond to drop them in, but it would be a good way to hide the detritus - crows are noted for their intelligence but not, as far as I know, for their concern over eutrophication.
#1: Initial revision by user avatar Pastychomper‭ · 2020-07-30T11:11:48Z (over 3 years ago)
Birds with young regularly clean their nest by removing droppings and other debris and usually deposit the results some distance away, presumably to avoid making the nest site too obvious to predators.  If you were in the northern hemisphere then it's very likely the crow did have young and was cleaning up.  Shell fragments and bird droppings can both be white, and I gather chick faeces are usually solid enough for the parent to pick up in a lump.

I don't know why the crow chose a pond to drop them in, but it would be a good way to hide the detritus - crows are noted for their intelligence but not, as far as I know, for their concern over eutrophication.