Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/homeowner-leaves-birdbath-note-about-bread/

An Australian homeowner finally caught the culprit putting bread in his birdbath, but it wasn’t who he expected!

According to a Reddit post shared by u/queerasqueercanbe, the homeowner took to Facebook to share about the situation. He was frustrated about his birdbath being polluted with bread so often, so he left a note about the situation on the birdbath.

However, it turned out that it wasn’t a human leaving bread in the birdbath, but a crow!

“For several weeks now I have become more and more annoyed with a passerby putting bread in our bird bath even after I had attached a polite note to it asking that bread not be put in it.

Well, yesterday I caught the culprit red handed!!! I witnessed this badboy strut across the lawn with a bread roll in his mouth, he flew onto the edge of the birdbath and deposited the bread roll into the water.

I was certainly outsmarted by this crow and his mate. I don’t know who his supplier is but maybe if I find out I could ask them to change their brand of bread as the crusts must be way too hard for these beauties.”

According to Knox News, it’s not uncommon for crows to leave random bits of food in birdbaths, as they clean and prepare their food to eat. The authors explain, “Crows can turn a pristine bird bath into a food prep sink. And they can leave a mess for you to clean up…Crows are notorious for washing and soaking food like bread in water.”

Apparently, crows wash and soak their food not just to soften it but to get more hydration from their food as well. When the food has extra moisture from being soaked, it can help prevent young birds from becoming dehydrated, particularly on hot days.

Crows may rely so much on birdbaths that they monopolize them, preventing other birds from drinking and cleaning in their waters. It can be such a problem at times that some outlets, like Mercury News, have released full reports on how to prevent crows from taking over a birdbath!

Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog