Trick-Or-Treat Corvids

I have been feeling a little swamped at work lately and am starting to feel like a workaholic.

The most entertaining part of my week, was doing barn today. There is something that I really find relaxing about working in the barn alone with the animals. Since I had a little extra time in day, I decided to try out some new enrichment with the crow and raven. These birds are part of what many consider to be the smartest family of birds, the corvidae family. Because of this, we give them daily toys to keep them entertained.

Mob the crow - he like shiny things...like my camera. I call this one "whatcha doin'?"

For the past month or so, I have been wondering what would happen if I hollowed out a pumpkin and stuffed all their food into it.  As you can see, I even carved a jack-o-lantern for our crow.

My AWESOME pumpkins!

Potter, the raven, used his typical technique to get his food. DESTROY! Anytime we stuff his food into a container, it comes back with large holes thanks to his strong beak. This time was no different and he made short work of his pumpkin.

Potter investigating the pumpkin

Mob, the crow, was a little more interested the round orange object. He walked around it a few times before deciding to hop tentatively towards the pumpkin. He grabbed the stem and the top came out. He quickly put that on the ground and walked over to investigate further. Once he got all his food out, he went back to the pumpkin and pulled out the few remaining seeds to eat as well.

Mob checking out the pumpkin

"What other treats are in here?"

Not only was it entertaining for me to watch Mob and Potter get their food from the pumpkins, I think they enjoyed it too. When I went back to check on them a couple hours later, Mob had pumpkin stuck to the side of his face :)