Out back this morning,
perched in a tree over the compost, were my five young sibling crows, waiting for the compost
delivery, for breakfast. They were born here last summer, wintered over, and
the five of them are always together. Hanging tight.
This spring, with the mysterious absence of Redtail or Broadwing Hawks, a Goshawk moved into town, and subsequently got themselves a mate, and had a baby. Who is now young and vulnerable, and being daily taught to fly and hunt.
This young Goshawk is of a tender age, and will not go off practicing their skills if myself and my dog are walking, for example.
Just last week, the five crows ramped up their objections to the presence of the Goshawk in the back conservation field, all of them going at the hawk, one of them in particular being persistent.
Out of necessity, the Goshawk retaliated, going at the crow in mid air, talons out, grabbing the crow, and then biting into them with their beak.
Since then, this crow has been grounded. Quietly cruising the field on their own for food, languishing at the compost in solitary mode. Which is very counterintuitive for crows. They're large birds, unwieldy in flight from the ground to sufficient height, and they tend to feed only in groups, especially if younger, for their safety.
This spring, with the mysterious absence of Redtail or Broadwing Hawks, a Goshawk moved into town, and subsequently got themselves a mate, and had a baby. Who is now young and vulnerable, and being daily taught to fly and hunt.
This young Goshawk is of a tender age, and will not go off practicing their skills if myself and my dog are walking, for example.
Just last week, the five crows ramped up their objections to the presence of the Goshawk in the back conservation field, all of them going at the hawk, one of them in particular being persistent.
Out of necessity, the Goshawk retaliated, going at the crow in mid air, talons out, grabbing the crow, and then biting into them with their beak.
Since then, this crow has been grounded. Quietly cruising the field on their own for food, languishing at the compost in solitary mode. Which is very counterintuitive for crows. They're large birds, unwieldy in flight from the ground to sufficient height, and they tend to feed only in groups, especially if younger, for their safety.
But
this crow evidently was recovering from its sustained wounds , and I think in
its own little protected neighborhood, felt pretty safe doing so. The other four tentatively took off each day, to go far and wide in search of food and
excitement, returning at night to be all together.
The roost area for crows is down the street, in the next town, so that, sometimes in mid winter, around four in the afternoon, you will watch hundreds of crows passing by, all heading to the group roosting place. And so, these crows do also. Safety in numbers.
But the last few days, this crow has bounced back, and the five of them are flying all around once again, having a great time, playing in the airstreams, bullying other animals, etc.
Yet, the Goshawk maintains a sturdy presence around the crows, favoring the compost area to really drive home the point that the Goshawk, not the crows, dominate. This is important, if the Goshawk is going to be dominant enough to be able to protect their young ones from the bullying of the crows also. It's necessary intimidation.
Which is what was happening this morning, when I stumbled out to try to deliver the compost. The five crows eyed me, and one after another slowly said hello, moving across the street into the forest to wait for me to dump the goodies from the house's compost bucket, and leave.
And of course, who should they run into right over there, but the Goshawk. Perched pivotally, for intimidation. Makes so much sense as I watch this.
In this video, you can't really see any of them well, you can just hear the amount of uproar that was still taking place maybe a few minutes after I dumped the compost.
The roost area for crows is down the street, in the next town, so that, sometimes in mid winter, around four in the afternoon, you will watch hundreds of crows passing by, all heading to the group roosting place. And so, these crows do also. Safety in numbers.
But the last few days, this crow has bounced back, and the five of them are flying all around once again, having a great time, playing in the airstreams, bullying other animals, etc.
Yet, the Goshawk maintains a sturdy presence around the crows, favoring the compost area to really drive home the point that the Goshawk, not the crows, dominate. This is important, if the Goshawk is going to be dominant enough to be able to protect their young ones from the bullying of the crows also. It's necessary intimidation.
Which is what was happening this morning, when I stumbled out to try to deliver the compost. The five crows eyed me, and one after another slowly said hello, moving across the street into the forest to wait for me to dump the goodies from the house's compost bucket, and leave.
And of course, who should they run into right over there, but the Goshawk. Perched pivotally, for intimidation. Makes so much sense as I watch this.
In this video, you can't really see any of them well, you can just hear the amount of uproar that was still taking place maybe a few minutes after I dumped the compost.
The crows getting surprised by encountering the goshawk, flying around in the forest, complaining at them, but
not really going after them. More of a registering of submissive complaint.
Everybody simply working things out.
Everybody simply working things out.
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