littlebiddle wrote:
I honked my horn and the crows left! I moved away from the nesting area so the male would take the food to the nest! I returned later and the female was finishing the feeding!
You got some good shots in this!!
Though not specifically involving owls, on multiple occasions over a span of multiple years, while doing agricultural field work, from the seat of a moving tractor I have had the privilege of observing competition, conniving behavior, harrassment, and food theft going on between ravens and ravens, and between ravens and hawks. Sometimes one-on-one, sometimes two or more against one, sometimes between two or more on each "team".
Sometimes the hawk(s) won and got the food, sometimes the raven(s) won.....pretty evenly divided with each "team" or catcher or challenger winning about half the time.
Some of the conflicts over the food were pretty brief, well under one minute. Some were much more interesting to observe, and played out over longer periods, up to 7, 8, 10, 13 minutes.
I'll not take time nor space to give full-length stories here, but will just say it is very, very interesting to observe the elaborate antics, schemes and maneuvers the birdbrained participants employ in both defending their catch and in stealing the prize from the one that originally had it. Sometimes, the prize is even lost and regained then lost again during the encounters.
And "team" is not a stretch of the imagination at all. There are times there is clear evidence of coordinated teamwork between those who make the original capture, and then coordinated teamwork between those who steal, or attempt to steal it.
It was always a real lesson, an intriguing one at that, to see the evidence of an ability at some level for those birdbrained creatures to devise and execute means to challenge and counter-challenge, both in attempts to steal and to thwart attempts to steal.
Sometimes, obvious teamwork even in the initial capture of the food was seen.
[None of the wild, winged creatures were ever physically injured in any of the events I witnessed (except during the rare times robbing the nest of the opponents was involved, carried out either by hawks or ravens.) In fact, physical contact was not a part of the usual events. Trying to outsmart, outmaneuver, out-intimidate the opponent(s) was always the method of behavior on display....and some of the teamwork schemes can rival the displays of teamwork seen carried out by humans.]