Squawk! A missed opportunity and a 'Murder of crows'
Nov 25, 2017 14:23:37 #
So my wife squawked. Loudly. She was working out when she saw a hawk swoop out of the sky and take down a crow. That was definitely the murder of a crow, but a happy meal for the hawk. The crow definitely croaked, although not audibly! Then the cacophony of the 'murder of crows' erupted. Boy, were they perturbed and flying around croaking. Since we're in an urban environment they settled in various places, by the time I had grabbed my camera they had moved from trees to wires.
It reminded me of Hitchcock and 'The Birds'. So here's my missed opportunity!
It reminded me of Hitchcock and 'The Birds'. So here's my missed opportunity!
Nov 25, 2017 14:29:54 #
Nov 25, 2017 14:39:39 #
Nov 25, 2017 14:51:45 #
For some reason I'm always attracted to silhouettes of birds on wires. I like your overhead viewpoint and the diagonals - that's a good composition idea to keep in mind next time I want to document a gone-bird 
Nov 25, 2017 15:01:06 #
Linda From Maine wrote:
For some reason I'm always attracted to silhouettes of birds on wires. I like your overhead viewpoint and the diagonals - that's a good composition idea to keep in mind next time I want to document a gone-bird
Thanks. "Overhead viewpoint"? Sadly I no longer fly as well as I used to!
Nov 25, 2017 19:03:38 #
Peterff wrote:
Thanks. "Overhead viewpoint"? Sadly I no longer fly as well as I used to!
Hmm, looking up would be "upward viewpoint" then, I guess?
Nov 26, 2017 06:35:22 #
Nov 26, 2017 08:21:16 #
Nov 26, 2017 14:08:19 #
I live in rural WV and we have plenty of crows around. It is quite often we watch 3 or 4 crows chasing a hawk around. The crows will fly at it and look like they are going to dive bomb it but the hawk always maintains a distance but I guess one on one, the crow could be a meal but as a group, something they are something else. I like the photo - kind of like an angry mob!
Nov 26, 2017 14:20:53 #
Country Boy wrote:
I live in rural WV and we have plenty of crows around. It is quite often we watch 3 or 4 crows chasing a hawk around. The crows will fly at it and look like they are going to dive bomb it but the hawk always maintains a distance but I guess one on one, the crow could be a meal but as a group, something they are something else. I like the photo - kind of like an angry mob!
This was in San Francisco. I missed the hawk hit the crow, but saw it fly off with its lunch to a nearby tree. My wife who likes raptors was very impressed, big hawk and a hard hit. From the coloring and size she thinks it was a girl hawk. She doesn't think the crow suffered, other than the "What the..." moment.
It wasn't just an angry mob, there were probably close to a hundred crows mobbing the scene, it was very impressive. I've never seen so many crows together in a single situation. It was also quite a big hawk, so although they tried to mob it, they kept their distance while it ate crow. Guess they didn't know if it was still hungry.
Nov 27, 2017 11:34:40 #
TuG
Loc: Ventura California
Nice shot. It is a crow meeting.
Lots of people study crows and their behaviors. They teach each other who is friend and who is foe. Warning crow research can cut into your social life.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/science/26crow.html
Lots of people study crows and their behaviors. They teach each other who is friend and who is foe. Warning crow research can cut into your social life.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/science/26crow.html
Nov 27, 2017 17:43:38 #
Nov 28, 2017 07:40:59 #
There are several 100 here at dawn and dusk sometimes on the power lines and some on the trees and a lot on the roof sounds like they have hobnail boots on in the morning
Nov 28, 2017 08:04:53 #
blackest wrote:
There are several 100 here at dawn and dusk sometimes on the power lines and some on the trees and a lot on the roof sounds like they have hobnail boots on in the morning
Yes. My San Francisco house has a flat roof, and I completetly agree about the hobnail boots. They're just not as rhytmically coordinated as the Seven Champions!
https://thesevenchampions.weebly.com/videos.html
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