I was on the telephone with other bloggers when a lot of crows flew into the front yard and sat for a while.
They came and went three times in about half an hour. The last time, everyone left, even the stragglers. As far as I know, crows form murders if they are protecting or attacking something.
They have a real spite on their cousin, the raven and will gang up on any that flies into their territory. Otherwise, they are not an aggressive or dangerous bird. They do love dead bodies and along with vultures are the garbage collectors of the avian world. Everything and everyone needs a trash collector.
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Categories: #Birds, #gallery, #Photography, Anecdote
JUST ONE GRACKLE ON A BRIGHT WINTER SUNDAY AFTERNOON 
BUSY DAY FOR ME AND GRACKLES: SKETCHBOOK 3 
BLUE JAYS IN THE SNOW 
PRETTY RED BIRD 
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
Wow. I just got chills down my back …
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All those crows must live in the woods, but they apparently don’t want seeds. They are omnivores and really, they will eat anything. They are huge on insects — and anything dead. I suppose that’s how they came to be a murder of crows.
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Goodness! Who knew!
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I think I learned this from reading mystery novels. “A Murder of Crows” is probably the title to dozens of murder mysteries 😀
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The things we learn from recreational reading …
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Oh Marilyn, I love the photos you were able to capture yesterday. Great going. It was fun to be on the call with you. 😀
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I was glad I could quickly grab a camera. I used to have a very expensive pocket camera i used, but after years of owning it, I never managed to figure out how it worked and I finally gave up. So now, I have my Pen F nearby and the other two cameras in the other room. I also have Garry’s camera nearby. Strange that the crows came back on the same day in two sequential years, isn’t it?
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You checked for Duke right away, didn’t you?! Would he scare the birds, though, or would the birds scare him?
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Crows — as opposed to ravens — are not big, strong birds. They get what they want by ganging up (murders) and basically annoying the hell out of the other bird (frequently a raven or a small hawk) until they fly into a tree (bonk, bye bye) or fly out of their territory. How they know what is their territory and what isn’t is a whole other question.
For all Duke’s enthusiasm about squirrels, he’s indifferent to birds. I suppose if one landed on him, he might pay attention, but he’s not a bird dog. He has many strains of dogs (mostly Japanese or Chinese) in his blood — as well as (I suspect) some pitbull or pug or Boston Terrier, but the bird dogs never made it.
Squirrels drive him crazy. He can’t catch them and he knows it, but he goes into supersonic hyperdrive when he sees them. Of course, he does the same thing when he sees a delivery truck or the neighbor’s dog — or shrimp — so it’s hard to tell what’s got him going.
Is he a watch dog? Only if we are worried about a squirrel invasion or too many delivery trucks. He assumes ALL people are fine. The only things he really values are his food dishes, Garry, me, and Owen. Not necessarily in that order.
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He is surprising uninterested in birds. For squirrels, he goes completely bonkers. He isn’t interested in cats either. We have a couple of neighbors’ cats that wander onto our deck and I have to chase them off because they are looking at the birds and have a gleam in their eyes. But the Duke shows a completely lack of interest in them. I think he’d be perfectly okay with a cat in the house. He has a lot more hostility towards other male dogs than cats. He’s fine with female canines. But oh boy, he is crazy about SQUIRRELS.
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Looks like a scene from “Birds”
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Doesn’t it? I think Hitchcock ruined flocks of birds for generations to come!
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Yeah! That’s true.
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Names are funny. You have a murder of crows and a flock of seagulls, but not the band from the 80’s.
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I missed the 1980s. I was in Israel for the first 8 years, and a displaced person for the next two, so I quite literally missed it. Was it good?
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The band? They had big 80’s hair and a couple of hits which have stood the test of time sort of.
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I’ve heard of them. They were a super group, several bands combined or am I confusing them with some other band? I never get names right.
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Now you have me thinking. There were so many “super groups” in the 80’s it is hard to know.
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I really did miss it. People always talk about it, but I had a different 80s experience. It was definitely not American — and when i came back, I had a LOT of catching up to do. I had forgotten how things work in this country and had to relearn stupid basic stuff.
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It’s not too late to visit the era. Look up “Box of Frogs” – back where I started. “Asia” – Heat of the moment. “Tears for Fears” – Everybody want to rule the world and Shout just to name a few.
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I will. I’m just so far behind on everything, I will get to it — but there’s never enough time to do all the things I need to do — and still be part of a family.
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Oh Wow. You weren’t exaggerating. I’m so glad you went to take photos!!!!
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What’s really weird? The last time we saw a murder of crows was EXACTLY one year ago to the day and I only got a few pictures as the crows were leaving. Also, they were in the back last time and the camera I grabbed was the one with the really long “birding” lens, so there aren’t many pictures, but they are close-ups. Maybe they will show up November 30th every year? I reblogged the one from last year tomorrow morning. Funny they should fall on the same day, isn’t it?
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It is. I read that blog as well..So exciting to see these huge groups of birds.. We used to have them when the lake was low and there were acres of cattails…
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Crows are really smart for birds. They have some surprisingly complex relationships in their “murders.”
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Yes, I’ve seen them perform amazing sequences to problem-solve.
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They also tame down well, can talk. Not as well as parrots, but they can say hello and according to Edgar Allen Poe, “Nevermore.” I ALWAYS wanted a trained crow who would say “Nevermore” when coaxed.
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Crows — the whole family including Ravens, Magpies, Blue Jays and all the various versions of crows — are considered among the smartest creatures on earth. They have extended family structures, too — rather like wolves. They form those “gangs” if any of them are threatened.
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Have you read “Baker’s Blue Jay Yarn” by Mark Twain?
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