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I've seen crows doing a lot of different stunts alone but in a flock they can be mean. I once almost hit a young bald eagle being forced down into heavy traffic on hwy 167 by a mob of crows. Another time I was walking on Meeker St in Kent Wa and noticed that there was crows all over the street that seemed to be focusing on a particular group of trees. They had a falcon grounded in the trees and wouldn't let it get away. There were dozens of them.
Back in the 1970's and even into the 1980's they were deemed 'enemies of the state'. At least our government was studying them as if they were our enemy. Here is a large pdf file on the subject: http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a089009.pdf. I remember hearing of the Tergitol spaying of starlings that also took out many other birds. Tergitol was like a mild soap that they would aerial spray the roosting trees in just the right weather conditions and the birds would die of exposure. I don't remember the numbers; but there were huge kills from this method.
Fifty years ago I remember hunting for pheasants in a farmer's field and seeing maybe fifty or a hundred dead crows in piles at different locations. I could not figure out how they shot all those crows since they are so smart - but I never examined the individual crows to see exactly what caused their death.
They had a falcon grounded in the trees and wouldn't let it get away. There were dozens of them.
Interesting, I didn't know that about crows. I saw 4 or 5 of them chasing a falcon last winter and thought it was unusual behavior. We have a large number in the neighborhood, but they only show up in the winter. I feed them, but they are so skittish that I have to be very still, even watching them through a window. If they catch sight of any movement, they're gone.
When I take the dog for a walk, there is a crow who recognizes us and comes to be fed. Our dog usually chases crows, but sits near me as he knows he will also get some small pieces of meat.
But all the crows in our city wood recognize the old couple who feed them with bread. We know where the old couple are by listening to the crows.
I once watched a magpie that had seen a dead mouse left by one of the local cats. From where I then lived, I could also see two other magpies, who could see the first, but not the mouse. The first magpie kept looking at the mouse, but then looked in the gardens as if searching, all the time moving closer to the dead mouse. When it could no longer see the other two magpies, it flew to the mouse and took it over our neighbors roof to eat it in peace, out of view of the other two.
So the Ft. Cobb roost was broken up by hunting? Seems sort of barbaric to shoot roosting birds when they would not be used as food. Where is the sport in killing roosting birds?
I do get that large roosts would be detrimental to an area, though. But were the birds damaging crops at that time of year?
I’ve toyed with trying to feed some crows, which I might see in the spring around here. But My yard is small, and anything I would do would affect my neighbors. It is probably best if I don’t do that.
When we lived in the woods, we fed birds at a feeder for awhile, but the feeder attracted squirrels which used our deck for a playground and mating den. And they chewed our lawn furniture.
We stopped the feeding because of the irritants. But squirrels, having found us, continued their romps on our deck. Noisy. We moved our furniture off.
So I know that feeding wildlife can cause unwanted problems.
But I find crows interesting. I would never want to make one a pet, though.
Ohhhhhhh, corvids are the most interesting birds to watch daily, especially crows. And they get used to being around people yet still never really tame, in cities. I absolutely loved being part of their day, and vice versa, when we lived in the PNW. They are all over the world except Antarctica, but in some places like Seattle they really are all over the town and most people don’t even see them even though they are in plain sight. There is also the way they magically appear out of nowhere when summoned, so they are masters at blending into the background!
I observed and participated in so many crow activities I could fill notebooks with anecdotes. They love to play games, I found out accidentally. They recognize the concept of reflective images upon only the second sighting of themselves. I watched them figure out new situations over and over again because I interacted with them every day. They are one of the things I dearly miss about the place we lived for only a few years.
The crows here in rural CO are more discreet and fewer, and I do not plan to interact with them simply because I do not want them to get too used to people and end up being shot by somebody who hates them. Even though we do not grow crops, other properties in the area might be zealously protected. But the garrulous pinyon jays on and around our land pique my interest. If I found an injured fledgeling corvid of any type, I would try to help it. They make fascinating “ambassador birds” for educational organizations. I’ll never forget attending a presentation in which the speaker brought a recently rescued raven and a “permanent” adopted crow. The crow could talk. Near the end of the talk, the crow suddenly piped up, “C’mon, let’s GO!” as the speaker was trying to discuss something. Clearly, this crow actually understood what the phrase meant.
“My” crows recognized my face, my voice, my KAYAK. They knew my habits. They would fly over the angled skylights being VERY conspicuous if I I had not yet come out. If I ignored them, one would hover over the glass. Then they would walk in the gutters, CLOMPCLOMPCLOMP as loudly as they could. They cleaned the moss and guck from our gutters.
They were both a little obnoxious at times, yet always fascinating. They could summon literally scores of other crows within seconds. Human communications devices ain’t got nothin’ on the crow network.
So the Ft. Cobb roost was broken up by hunting? Seems sort of barbaric to shoot roosting birds when they would not be used as food. Where is the sport in killing roosting birds?
I do get that large roosts would be detrimental to an area, though. But were the birds damaging crops at that time of year?
I’ve toyed with trying to feed some crows, which I might see in the spring around here. But My yard is small, and anything I would do would affect my neighbors. It is probably best if I don’t do that.
When we lived in the woods, we fed birds at a feeder for awhile, but the feeder attracted squirrels which used our deck for a playground and mating den. And they chewed our lawn furniture.
We stopped the feeding because of the irritants. But squirrels, having found us, continued their romps on our deck. Noisy. We moved our furniture off.
So I know that feeding wildlife can cause unwanted problems.
But I find crows interesting. I would never want to make one a pet, though.
This area used to be one of the top peanut growing regions in the US. In the 1980's, farmers started harvesting peanuts in different way (less food left on the ground for the birds), and that's when--and most likely why-- the birds left. I don't think the roost-shooting holds much water. In the 1950's, they tried dynamiting the roost to chase the crows away and they just found other places to sleep.
It was the picture of a beggar in the Painted Desert that we took back in 2002. I thought that it might have hung around with 'Lodestar's' dancing crow? You're welcome! Come to think about it; this was a singer and not a dancer!
Ha! Although I doubt it was the same bird, I have a movie of a crow in the Painted Desert that I took in July of this year.
My brother year ago got a recording of a owl hooting. Someone told him if you play it outside for a while a bunch of crows will gather to beat up on the owl. We lived in a suburb so didn't realize how many crows we're around. After only 20 minutes tops there was a whole bunch of crows cawing and looking for that owl.
Ha! Although I doubt it was the same bird, I have a movie of a crow in the Painted Desert that I took in July of this year.
A common raven has a lifespan of ten to fifteen years. Crows only live to seven or eight years old. The bird I photographed looked pretty old to start off. But it could have been the heat; it was about 105+ outside that day. Regardless; I don't think it was the same bird - but it could have been a relative?
I presume that it was hot out there this year in July! I did like that park even with the heat. You can drive and park until you get too hot and then drive more.
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