I haven't seen systematic predatory behavior in crows (at least, nothing
that ingenious), but it wouldn't surprise me in the least. I assisted an
ethological study on crows (corvus brachrhyncos) at the U of Mich., and
they really are more intelligent than most people give them credit for.

Much though I feel badly for the songbirds getting pummeled, you really
have to give a bird credit, that's able to come up with a hunting system
*that* clever!

-Jacki



On Thu, 6 Nov 1997, Michael P Dossett wrote:

> I was sorry to hear about the magpie taking the stunned goldfinch. I
> have seen crows twice this week, chase birds into the window during math
> class. When this happened, the crows would wait about 20 seconds and
> then descend to where the bird was. The first time, it was a robin,
> which got up and started to fly to the tree about 40 feet away. When it
> was about three feet from the nearest branch, it just fell straight to
> the ground where about five crows pecked it to death and fought over the
> remains. Has anyone else seen this type of systematic predator behavior
> in the local crows?
>
>
> Michael Dossett
> Seattle, Washington
> mpdossett at Juno.com
>

-Jacki

Personal rant, regarding humans and nature: I agree that humans are a part of
nature, but many things they do are very UNNATURAL. Because we do destructive
acts, that doesn't mean we can attribute it to being a part of the "natural
process." There are repercussions to our actions, and as a species, we've
lost sight of that. Food for thought, but it's my opinion. Discuss.