Like I’ve said many times before, birds are smart.

I saw a crow today scoot up close to an osprey who was chomping down on a pretty tasty-looking ladyfish. The osprey was twice the size of the crow and in no mood to share.

The crow watched, waited, thought about it for a while. Then a light bulb apparently went off in that birdbrain of his! Time after time the hungry osprey would lean down, rip off a bite, and just as he was pulling his beak back to swallow, the crafty crow would take that exact moment to snatch a morsel right out from under him.

How’s an osprey going to protest with his mouth full?

Yes, birds are fascinating; I can stare at them for hours.

We all know that birds communicate vocally. But did you know that different species can learn each other’s language? So, for example, when a bluejay gives a danger signal in his native dialect, savvy crows or mockingbirds have been known to react appropriately.

I’m with writer Jim Harrison when he has one of his characters say, “The birds taught me I knew nothing, nothing at all.”

Here’s a short video I made extolling some little known tidbits about birds.

Oh, I forgot to mention that some birds are patriotic, as demonstrated by this ‘full bird colonel’ waving the American flag ☺