Hooded Crow dropping Winkle

(Originally published in SBN 79 03/2006 p19

I spotted this enterprising Hooded Crow at a jetty in Stornoway trying to break a winkle by flying up and dropping the mollusc on to a small concrete pier from a height of about 20 feet.

The Crow then landed, inspected the shell carefully, stabbed at it, threw it about a bit, had another look, then repeated the whole process. Finally it extracted what I suspect was a dead, or at the very least, stunned winkle.

Four other Hoodies in the area have learned the same trick.