Birding

Torresian Crows and Vegemite

June 4, 2023 by Clare M 2 Comments

Torresian Crows are frequently observed around Broome and come into our garden for water. Usually the Torresian Crows just come for a drink, but recently they have been arriving with a slice of dry bread! You don’t have to search too far on the internet to find that Crows worldwide will wash or soak their food. The first visit with a slice of bread was in the afternoon.

Once the Torresian Crow had placed the piece of dry bread into the water it ate some of it and then it left.

Torresian Crow eating bread

We didn’t think that the Torresian Crow had eaten all of the bread, so I went over to the watering point and removed it from the water and placed it on the rocks. I soon realised that it was having bread with Vegemite on! Everyone knows that Vegemite can be an acquired taste and it is not loved around the world! Generally you love it or you hate it! We are fans of Vegemite, Promite and Marmite!

Vegemite bread

We wondered if the Torresian Crow had not liked the Vegemite bread, but we were proven wrong when it returned for breakfast the following morning! It didn’t take long for it to finish the slice of bread with Vegemite on it.

Torresian Crow finishing the Vegemite bread

We have come to the conclusion that someone in our neighbourhood is being given Vegemite bread and they don’t like it. They are leaving it somewhere and the Torresian Crows are collecting it up and bringing it to our garden! This is continuing to happen!

We have a piece of black rope for the water to drip down in the bottle nowadays. We used to have white string attached to a sinker, but the Torresian Crows would pull it out!

They are very smart birds! It appears they also like Vegemite!

Written by Clare M
Clare and her husband, Grant, have lived permanently in Broome, Western Australia since 1999 after living in various outback locations around Western Australia and Darwin. She has lived in the Middle East and the United States and traveled extensively in Europe. She monitors Pied Oystercatchers breeding along a 23km stretch of Broome's coastline by bicycle and on foot. She chooses not to participate in social media, but rather wander off into the bush for peace and tranquility. Thankfully she can write posts in advance and get away from technology!