Watching BBC - Am right now. The chef Ramsey was shown in the woods with his son and the landowner. He had an unidentifiable boxlock, and he was shooting - ROOK! Says he wants to reintroduce this bird to the English dining public. He didn't shoot them on the wing, rather off high branches. The first thing that jarred my aging brain when I heard the word rook was of course YOUR rook gun. I couldn't remember the details, but through the fog it seemed to be a rifle rather than a shotgun. Am I correct? And, of course, do you still have your rook gun, or has it gone the way of your damascus barreled Lang? Please take the time from the duties of your manor and illuminate us, as indeed you always have. Many Thanks - Marc

I saw that one too!
I used to eat BlackBird (Rook ) pie back in Somerset, that my mum made , if I shot a couple or three with my BSA underlever pellet gun.....
Tasted like chicken...with nice gravy n Dumplings..yum
franc

I too used to do that when I was a lad. My friend and I would stand under the bare branches of the tall trees in the woods and spinneys of the small estate I still shoot on, head craned upward looking for the rooks to come in to roost on their uncomfortable looking nests.

It would be as the light faded that they would fly in, squawking away. Once they settled onto a branch above, we would line up the bead of our .410s on their feet and fire, the flame from the muzzle well illuminated at that time of the evening. We would often get 20-30 in an evening. I recall splitting my thumb on the top lever on one occasion - my own fault in the excitement of the moment I guess.

Tim

It was an annual tradition in our part of Essex to shoot young rooks on the first Saturday of May. We shot the young rooks with 22s as they perched outside the nests. It was challenging shooting as they usually nested in a rookery, social birds these, in very tall horse chestnut trees, the big leaves were coming out and it was hard to see them. One day we were joined by some village youths armed with catapults and glass marbles and they were knocking off young rooks from the branches of the quite tall trees, probably 30 to 40 feet up. It was an amazing feat of marksmanship I have never forgotten. We did not eat them ourselves, but gave them to those who liked eating young rooks
Mike

Check out this site.

Crowbusters.com

Best,
John

Lowell loves eating fresh Rooks.

I also fondly remember early May rook shoots (generally around the 7th-9th of that month) in Norfolk where my .22 air rifle was the weapon of choice. The meat from the young rooks or "branchers" was superb and a cross between beef and chicken.

I think the nursery rhyme "4 and 20 blackbirds" is actually referencing rook pie if memory serves, and the shoots were a way of traditionally managing the populations of local rookeries.

Don't know if a rook and a crow is the same thing, but if y'all saw the things I see crows eating daily you might think twice about eating one. They'll eat any road kill a buzzard'll eat. Even if a rook is a young flightless crow, they have been fed with whatever the parents fly home with in their stomach.

We shoot them by the hundreds in the fall of the year when pecans start to fall, but, no thanks to "settin' down to one".

If you knew what shrimp eat, you'd feel the same way. So, don't think about it.

People who can be selective about their protein are blessed. A live-by-his-wits aquaintance of mine wouldn't turn his nose up at rook, or, roadkill. Few of his few pennies are required for either meal.

He claims a spring of the year raccoon is as good as it gets.

We are all leveraged differently in life.


Best,
Ted

I guess, but when I see crows eating old roadkill I just can't get past that. I've tried a lot of different dishes. But there's a few I just ain't got no use fer. Crow, 'possum, and armadillo come quickly to mind. Coon is much cleaner, but I've never had it cooked to my liking. Bobcat is the some of the best looking meat I've ever seen, pale like veal, but I just ain't been that hungry yet.

Here in the UK, rooks and crows are two separate species, but both members of the corvid family. The former tends to eat insects (leatherjackets etc), the latter carrion/roadkill etc.

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I was having bad thoughts about you limeys.

Another Limey chips in, the UK Rook is a vegetarian, well, insects too I guess, the UK Carrion Crow and the Hooded Crow are scavengers and road kill specialists like the American Crow.
CBL1, how would you rate the Jackdaw, a smaller member of the corvid family? I suspect they raid songbirds nests, do they eat carrion?.
I was in England before Christmas visiting relatives, and I saw, to my delight several jackdaws sitting on my hotel roof, in Witham, Essex. I had a pet jackdaw for years as a boy, smart birds. When I left for Canada in 1976 they were quite scarce.
Mike

I am reminded of the Gentleman at the counter of a Sandwich Shop who inquired about the special of the day. When he was informed that it was a Beef Tounge Sandwich, he recoiled and said, "It may be delicous, but I can't get over where it came from", and then ordered an Egg Sandwich.

Least the egg came wrapped.

Rook diet:Diet
Food is predominantly earthworms and insect larvae, which the bird finds by probing the ground with its strong bill. It also eats cultivated cereal grain, smaller amounts of fruit, small mammals, acorns, small birds, their eggs and young and carrion. In urban sites, human food scraps are taken from rubbish dumps and streets, usually in the early hours when it is relatively quiet. It has also been seen along the seashore, feeding on insects, crustaceans and suitable food flotsam.
I like most folks enjoy eating Lobster and Crab also.Their diet is pretty revolting.

People sometimes consume roadkill. In one of his books, Steve Bodio gives a description of how hawk tastes. At that point in his life, there was no juncture between diet and pride. That comes with more success and money.
Isn't it Cris Rock who points out that there isn't lactose intolerance in Rowanda?


Best,
Ted

Mike , I used to love Jackdaws...a very cool little bird, & smart , as you said.
I used to be an avid Bird Nester as a "Yout'" back in hedgerows of Somerset.
I remember Magpies as the real nest destroyers..they'd follow me sometimes, destroying the nests I found on occasion.Crows would do the same.
I used to delight in eating Magpie eggs to get revenge.
Rooks or Jackdaws didn't seem to bother.
Franc

I was wondering about eating the rooks I saw while staying last year with a friend at Cock Lake near Wedmore in Somerset. It was April and there were dozens of nests in several trees on the property. I didn't want to ask my fragrant friend about eating them---you know how things are over there---but what's the scoop, Franc? At what time of the year do they eat the rooks?

Generally the only time of year rook is/was eaten was early May - often between the 5-9th if memory serves when the young "branchers" were culled prior to them taking flight. Outside of this period of time, I am led to believe rook is not necessarily edible or if it is, not very tasty. I was very pleasantly surprised how nice rook pie was.

I still shoot the Black Guard, but these days with a Kimber 22lr rifle and not the ol'Dan'l Fraser Rook Rifle. By call and decoys they land in the tops of trees - then you pop'em! Good off season fun and the bird isn't bad in the mouth either.
Eley sub-sonic hollowpoints are perfect at this distance btw.