May 4, 2008 10:50 pm
Caw-Caphony
Posted by Will under animals, backyarchaeology, nature
[6] Comments
Did I see what I think I saw earlier today?
I know that a small squadron of crows set to making quite a racket directly overhead in the backyard this afternoon. When Susan and I came out of the house to investigate I counted five of them circling our smaller palm tree and immediately I figured they were giving some raptor grief that had landed up there in the fronds.
Little did I know…
Upon circling to the backside of the tree I found myself looking up about 25 feet from a magnificent red-tailed hawk looking straight down at me while trying its best to ignore the divebombings of the crows and maintain control of its prey, a medium-sized something that it clutched in one talon while holding the frond with the other.
Only when I said something over the crows like “Whoa will you look at that!” and pointed up, did the hawk get startled, unable to deal with the attentions of the crows above and me below. Upon lifting off it was also unable to maintain a grip on its meal — but the meal wasn’t dead and like a shot took off flying in a south-by-southwest direction toward the downtown skyline over the trees and outta there!
With some fluffy down feathers drifting down upon us we watched as the hawk flew north to land a palm tree closer to Sunset Boulevard with the crows in pursuit and not letting up in the slightest.
But here’s the thing: I’m pretty sure the hawk’s catch wasn’t a crow. As it all happened so fast, I didn’t get a really good look at it so maybe it was and maybe the hawk had invaded a nearby crow’s nest. But the down feathers that fell to earth were light gray and the momentary glimpse I got of the escapee bolting away was that it was a pigeon or maybe a mourning dove.
What’s the big deal about that? Probably nothing much, but to my layman’s eye it’s fascinating to consider that I witnessed crows defending against an enemy — even if the battle they wage is not for one of their own.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
The correct term for a grouping of crows is a “murder”
May 5th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Indeed it is Harry. I actually think of them as a “murder” when the crows are ominously gathered (as in various scenes from “The Birds”), and opted for “squadron” because of the seemingly coordinated aerial attack on the hawk.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
And the correct term, of course, for such animal groupings are “venereal terms.”
From decades of amateur ornithology, I can say with a little bit of confidence that the bird that escaped an ugly death was likely a pigeon. Also, crows simply start crowing about hawks in their neighborhood.
Pigeons are fat targets, but generally, two smaller birds can run off one larger bird. Two mockingbirds, for instance, can easily run off a crow. If given a chance, birds will go right for the eyes. Birds are really tough when it comes to territory.
May 6th, 2008 at 4:16 am
Thanks for the insight, Joseph. I figured it was a territorial issue that drove the crows more than any sense of moral outrage. We’re certainly familiar with those ugly deaths as the various boughs above our backyard have been hawks’ feasting places on a couple occasions with the ground below littered with the gory results:
http://flickr.com/photos/wildbell/sets/72157594168849970/
May 6th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
While working in SE Simi Valley, I saw a bird, possibly a hawk, fighting it out with a crow in flight. The hawk “won” and the crow slunk (slinked?) off to a large oak tree. There was considerable crow noise for a couple minutes and then about 40 of them took off in unison and chased the hawk for several minutes, clear out of sight. It was like watching a gang member get attacked when alone, then go get his homies and go after the attacker! I had no idea birds ever acted as a group to defend territory.
January 20th, 2010 at 12:04 am
It sounds like you’re creating problems yourself on worrying to explain this issue instead of looking at why there is a mind-boggler in the senior place. But still great job and point of view.