hello tweetsters.

i remember vaguely that several someones are banding crows for
some sort of study, both on the UW campus and at discovery park
(i think). well, of course, i would forget exactly who was doing
the banding and precisely why, but i have a banded crow sighting
that might be of interest. my apologies for reporting it here
instead of private email, but i hope that somehow, the appropriate
someones find this report.

today, at 145 pm, as i was on my way to my afternoon caffeine
stop, i was watching a crow strutting confidently along the
sidewalk, very close to me, out of the corner of my eye. i heard
the *jingle* *jingle* of leg bands with each stride that the crow
made so, reflexively, i stopped and looked straight at this crow.

as you all know, most crows are really paranoid about being openly
*stared* at by humans, and this crow was no different. she immediately
stopped and cowered, but not before i got a good look at her leg bands.

she had two bands on each leg. the right leg had blue over red and
the left leg had black (blue?) over silver. the crow was walking
eastward (towards 15th) on the northern side of 40th along the very
edge of the sidewalk (in front of the commodore-duchess apartments).

as soon as i walked onward towards my destination -- about half a
block away, where i could easily observe her -- she flew from the
sidewalk and landed on top of the last parking meter on the same
side of the street, and warily watched me. people walked past her
-- very close -- without arousing any overt suspicions, but she sure
kept a close eye on me.

after approximately one minute of watching me, the crow flew westward
along 40th, past me, took a right turn at university way (at a red
light!), flew north and out of sight.


Deborah Wisti-Peterson email:nyneve at u.washington.edu
Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash, USA
Visit me on the web: http://weber.u.washington.edu/~nyneve/
^~^~^~Graduate School: it's not just a job, it's an indenture!~^~^~