Wildlife enthusiast captured footage of a crow hunting Namaqua doves at a watering hole in a wildlife preserve in South Africa.

The footage shot on November 25 in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park shows the hunting Cape crow stalking finches and doves until he locks on his target and strikes for the kill.

The filmer described the scene: “We were absolutely stunned by this unusual hunting skill. The crow started to clean its freshly caught meal, plugging the feathers and wings.

“We thought that the crow would start devouring the bird. We were very wrong. To our surprise the crow took its meal and flew into the shade under a tree, where it started digging a hole.

“Over time this smart crow has figured out a unique way of preying on birds and storing them for later during tough times.”

During a safari in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park we were lucky to witness the very interesting and fascinating behaviour of a hunting Cape crow at one of the waterholes. We spent time watching birdlife coming and going and suddenly noticed one conspicuous black crow around the edge of the water. Other birds such as fiches and doves were flying in for a drink and it looked like the crow was there for the same reason. More birds landed around water and the crow casually started walking around of the water hole along the edge. It then moved a little lower out of sight and suddenly with lightning speed the crow flew up to the water’s edge and amazingly grabbed a Namaqua dove. We were absolutely stunned by this unusual hunting skill. The crow started to clean its freshly caught meal, plugging the feathers and wings. We thought that the crow would start devouring the bird. We were very wrong. To our surprise the crow took its meal and flew into the shade under a tree, where it started digging a hole. The crow then took the dove, shoved it into the hole, and started to cover the top carefully with sand, sticks and feathers to hide it. We witnessed the same behaviour shortly after once again from the same crow. This sighting clearly illustrated the intelligence and resourcefulness of crows. They are highly adaptable to their direct environment and very opportunistic. Over time this smart crow has figured out a unique way of preying on birds and storing them for later during tough times.