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[-] PennyRoyal@sh.itjust.works 101 points 1 month ago

I feel like we’re brushing past the salient point here - why are the crows doing this?!

[-] notabot@piefed.social 57 points 1 month ago

At a guess, because crows are smart, resourceful little chaos goblins, with basically no fear, especially in groups. Maybe they like the noise the breaking glass makes, or maybe they're just curious to see what will happen. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that they've made a game of it, to see which of them can hit nearest the centre, or from highest up. I'm actually surprised that a single falcon manages to scare them off, after seeing what they do to buzzards round here. Even if the buzzard is minding it's own business, multiple crows will attack it in flight, dive it bombing and harrying it until it has left the area.

[-] NotSteve_@lemmy.ca 35 points 1 month ago

Is it possible the light bounces off the panels in a way that annoys them too?

[-] Mountainaire@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago

All of the above!

[-] Zikeji@programming.dev 31 points 1 month ago

They also like shiny things so it wouldn't surprise me if it's just due to that.

[-] Aneb@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Just like my ex husband

[-] rockerface@lemmy.cafe 16 points 1 month ago

They're farming the raid boss

[-] oce@jlai.lu 12 points 1 month ago

They are big oil drones, birds are not real.

[-] wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago

Have you seen one IRL? They're really not that but at all. Could fit in a backpack —if you have a wish to lose your soul to oblivion, but yeah. Pretty awesome, actually. 🥰

[-] Taleya@aussie.zone 1 points 1 month ago

Please film yourself putting a live wild crow into your backpack. Conscious, please

[-] wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Even further, why scapegoat the crows at all?

The local avian population no doubt bombs enough bad paint to cause issues when it anneals to the panels in the focused sunlight. Secondly, that one falcon is quite likely taking whatever it can find on the wing each sortie. Even ground critters. So...

Again. Why? 🤌🏼

[-] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 19 points 1 month ago
[-] wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 month ago

Must be your translator. Anyhow, gotta gallop! 🦄

[-] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 4 points 1 month ago

Merry focused ambling to you and your pack.

Crows are based.

[-] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 4 points 1 month ago
[-] farmgineer@nord.pub 36 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

This headline and xitt smelled to me. Searching in Japanese, I find one instance of it being used at a installation. https://project.nikkeibp.co.jp/ms/atcl/feature/15/389489/041000017/?ST=msb&P=5 I'm not immediately seeing anything else similar.

Edit: clarity.

[-] lettruthout@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago

Yeah, I’m wondering about the truthfulness of this story also. Here in Southern California we have solar arrays and crows. They seem to coexist quite peacefully,

[-] ikidd@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I would also be amazed if a crow could lift a big enough rock to damage a panel. I have a pile of panels in use; they're pretty damn tough to break that glass. Only time I've seen one broken was the wind tore it off it's mount and smashed it into the top of a fence post. I measure the production afterwards and it was still 90% despite the glass being crazed across the entire surface.

[-] farmgineer@nord.pub 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

"there was a high possibility of actual damage occurring, such as the cover glass being broken by falling rocks or the panel surface being soiled with droppings" from the Japanese article via google translate.

Our crows here are larger than the US ("grackles" in Texas may be close, but I think they're still smaller), but I still wonder if they could drop rocks heavy enough (or repeatedly enough) to do anything.

[-] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 23 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Deciding which side to support between the anti corporate anti technology crows or the bad ass green energy supportimg hawks:

[-] terranoid@lemmy.cafe 10 points 1 month ago

The crows are smarter and it worries me they know better

[-] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago
[-] wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 month ago

Gestapo. They were a predator before, too.

[-] libre_warrior@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 month ago

Shouldnt the crows be happy about green energy? I think they are ungreatful.

[-] SGGeorwell@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago
[-] Korval@lemmy.today 28 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Based on the abstract of a research paper I found (the only source I found not interested in exaggerating things for clicks or commenting on mundane problems like nests and poop), crows know that dropping rocks is fun. The researchers (again, according to the abstract--the meat is behind a paywall, as usual) speak as if crows are always dropping rocks; the implication being that the presence of the solar panels is happenstance. Their research merely correlates cracks in the panels, and pebbles on the panels, with crows flying overhead. In the paragraph they don't even directly blame the cracked panels on the rocks, let alone the crows. They simply state the chain of events as a possibility.

On the other hand, I've heard lots of fun facts about birds over the years and the underlying theme is that birds are bastardly and some, like crows, are intelligent. What human kid doesn't enjoy throwing rocks or shooting bullets at glass? I don't find it hard to believe that crows might similar mayhem enjoyable.

[-] CameronDev@programming.dev 8 points 1 month ago

I'm not convinced a crow can crack a solar panel, they are very tough. People walk on them, and they survive hail.

[-] Linktank@lemmy.today 8 points 1 month ago
[-] rbos@lemmy.ca 16 points 1 month ago

Aviation term for an air attack. Out, hit, back.

I think it's also general military. A squad can sortie out to accomplish an objective.

[-] grue@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

From the French sortir, "to go out".

So yeah, the "out" and "back" parts are important: if a unit is attaching while maneuvering in the field, it's not a "sortie". That's also why it's common in aviation, since airplanes inherently require a home runway that every attack begins and (ideally) ends at.

[-] TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

Jesus, I know French but i didn't connect the term to the language! 🤣

[-] Sanctus@anarchist.nexus 5 points 1 month ago

Big shiny burn eyes. Rock make shiny sparkle. Hurt bird protect big shiny.

[-] wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago

Cracking them would increase their sparkle...

[-] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 5 points 1 month ago

Ok but who will protect the batteries from the falcons?

[-] SaltSong@startrek.website 5 points 1 month ago

So, that's 2.5 sorties an hour, 24 hours a day. I don't know how much falcon need to sleep, but that feels unsustainable.

[-] TheGoldenV@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Now I’m wondering. How large of an area one bird could cover. How many falcons does one professional falconer have? Do they take constant upkeep training like a dog or do they retain better? Does a falcon eat much? Can they eat people food? Like two mice a day with some fish would probably be ok. Maybe let it eat some of the crows to keep costs down?

So like 2-6 falcons, they can sleep in the van, let them eat the crows they nail. The birds are only flying from dawn to dusk, so 7 days a week for maybe 10 hours on average?

Screw it, I’m buying a falcon.

[-] Taleya@aussie.zone 4 points 1 month ago

Between this and the decoy nests what the fuck did Japan do to piss crows off so bad

[-] gerald_eliasweb@reddthat.com 3 points 1 month ago

Nature is self-sabotaging it would appear

[-] Xandi@feddit.org 2 points 1 month ago

Had crows at my parents place pecking the windows. So them attacking glass surfaces definitely tracks.

this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2026
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