Hello everyone,

Sorry I don’t have a bird picture but I came here with a bird question ( I’m 99% sure it’s a bird question). I hope this is not against the rules but I read them and it seemed ok.

My “backyard” is covered in gravel (intentionally by the owner, I’m just renting) and i’ve noticed a bunch of little mounds appeared over time.

I’ve searched a bit online and saw that blackbirds tend to do this while foraging, which makes sense because I often see them there looking for food even though I’ve never seen them building those.

My first question is, is it really blackbirds that are making these?

For context:

I live in northwestern Europe and usually see pigeons, crows, blackbirds, sparrows, magpies, chickadees, parakeets (their ancestors were released a while back in the city and they’ve been thriving since), and the occasional bluejay.
I never saw crows or magpies in the backyard though.

My second question is: why do they do it and why do they also drove little sticks into the ground in the middle of those piles?

You can see the sticks on the pictures, I’ve pulled a few of them out and they’re definitely not just plants growing there.
They’re stuck what feels like 2 cm deep into the ground.

Thanks you for your time and potential answer.