A Family of Crows

There is a crow’s nest across the field behind our house. It is in a tall pine. A few weeks ago, while sitting out in the meadow at sunset with The Ghost, I heard young crows out there calling out when an older crow came  home with food. I’ve seen 3 adult crows congregating nearby and heard them talking in the trees over my head a lot lately. Mama, papa and older sibling maybe?  These three stick close together and they hop around down in the field looking for food together and someone always heads up to that spot in the top of the trees while the other two keep hunting for bugs and worms in the tall grass. I can’t see what’s up there exactly but I can see movement and hear what I think are little crows hollering in excitement when a grown crow appears. The sounds are funny and loud and definitely not the sounds of adult crows. The three I can see are a close knit group — trio of affectionate caregivers. I love to see them down in the field in the afternoon, enjoying the quiet at the end of the day just before roosting time.  They stand close together and coo and preen. It’s beautiful to watch. Crows are always so animated. It’s nice to see them just being in the gloaming.

During the day they are more active and  less physically close to each other but they are always connected. There is an obvious network out there that includes many crows and even some smaller birds. These three seem to have different jobs that are exclusive to their little family network, however, and so they head out in three different directions to hunt–or perhaps patrol. I really have no idea what they are doing. I do know that  they seem to form a triangle around my house calling to each other at different parts of the day only interacting with the larger flock if there is trouble. This little family often cast shadows across my garden or work table when they fly by and over the house–sometimes talking as they fly by and sometimes not. I hear them softly cawing to one another on quiet days or rattling and fussing when something gets their attention or worries them. I have heard them talking to each other about me and my dogs as I walk to the mailbox past their favorite spots on our little road. They sit and watch from the shady safeness of our bower and whisper about us. Sometimes I look up and say hello. They usually fly away the moment I speak but never before looking me in the eye first. I know they know me. They see me every day and when I walk back to the house, they give the all clear and resume their duties in the popular spots by the dirt road. This week the city has been putting up new power poles out on the main road and there has been a lot of machine noise and tree trimming going on so the birds have all been a bit uneasy. That sort of activity is rare though.

A common occurrence, however, is hawk chasing. Cooper’s and Red Tailed hawks also nest and live in and around our woods. Some seasons it gets downright crowded out there, with crows and hawks, owls, vultures and herons divvying up the treetops and sky. There seem to be very specific areas where each is allowed, but quite often a hawk dares to cross the imaginary line in the sky and there is a crow ruckus to beat the band! Friends and neighbors and cousins come out of the shadowy pines to chase them away. Some days the jays and mockingbirds put in their two cents worth too and gab at the tail feathers of a hawk. Those guys might be smaller than crows but these little cousins put up a good fight and I’ve never seen the hawk do anything but move along after being hit by an angry little mockingbird protecting it’s territory.

I actually witnessed a scuffle between a hawk and a crow the other day and it was just over my head! I think I startled them as I entered the woods and the disagreement escalated quickly to a fight! The crow was persistent diving at and hitting the hawk that twisted at crazy angles to defend itself while simultaneously trying to fly away.  Feathers were lost by both parties and I heard a branch or two snap. I picked up the crow feather that floated to the ground in front of me and saw the hawk  fly upwards and away while the crow perched all fluffed up and angry on a snag tree grumbling. The family was on a nearby hickory branch ready to jump to action if the hawk returned.

It isn’t always so rough and tumble out there though. Occasionally, when it is quiet in the middle of the day, one of the crows lands on the branch of the sweetgum tree and watches me watching her. Him? That has never happened before this year. The crows have always lived deeper in the woods and kept their distance from the house. We see them around the edges of our clearing or flying overhead but they rarely land in our yard. Perhaps we are too active out there for their taste or they feel too vulnerable in the clearing. This particular little crow seems as fascinated by what is going on in our world as we are with what’s going on in theirs, though, and sits on the roof or in the tree outside my kitchen windows and watches us. It can retreat to the deep woods easily but really pushes ahead of the others and sits at the very edge and very near us humans. I enjoy the visitations and try to play it cool when she is there. I had to snap a couple of photos though. She was so close! You understand. 

 

My chickens have learned to watch for this crow and listen to all of the crows in the periphery and respond when they start talking excitedly about something going on beyond the chicken’s line of vision. My flock is restricted to a run because of all of the raptors and foxes nearby but they seem aware that dangers lie just beyond the wall of trees and stay alert. It seems that the crows are part of their safety plan–their alarm system and they count on them to alert them to intruders–like owls and hawks, dogs –even humans. I’ve been out in the garden when a crow sounds loudly from a nearby tree and I’ve watched the hens freeze and look upward –waiting for a message from the crow. Is it a hawk? An owl? Often they will scurry under the run when they hear the crows kicking up a fuss. I love that I have seen this happen. I love that the chickens speak a little crow. I wonder what the crows think of the chickens?

As I am writing this, the crows are fussing somewhere behind the house and I have seen several flying quickly over my neighbor’s field. I wonder who has dared to cross into their territory this time?

17. May 2012 by Tracie
Categories: birds and wildlife | 1 comment

Anoles and Blue Tailed Skinks

16. May 2012 by Tracie
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