Hello, everyone, this is my first posting since subscribing to your
mailing list. I am enjoying very much all of your field notes and
descriptions of places to go and birdies to see. I am not a long-time
birder, but since having had the opportunity to go hiking and camping so
much in the past 3 years, I've become enchanted with the creatures. I
suppose that is enough of an introduction for now....

I'd like to share an experience my father recently had with crows. He
lives in Olympia, Washington, and is raising a few chickens in the
backyard. Three weeks ago, after dispatching one of the chickens, he was
seated in the yard, plucking the shiny black feathers from the bird.
Suddenly, he noticed a murder of crows. Either he was too pre-occupied
with chicken slaughter earlier, or they had "just snuck up on him", but
there they were, on the roof of the house. They were cawing and
screeching up a storm, and first one crow, then another, started to
"dive-bomb" my father, feinting as if to attack him. In my mother's view
from the kitchen, she found it to be quite funny. Dad was intimidated,
and took his chicken into the garage to finish the plucking.

Did I forget to mention, this chicken was BLACK in color? Oh, yes, I did
mention it, and it sticks to me... this thought... Did those crows think
my dad was killing and plucking one of their own? Or were they looking
for a handout, merely?

Any comments or shared anecdotes on crow behaviour would be most
appreciated. Thanks for reading.

Carla Holley, Seattle, WA.