Subject: peregrine in Belltown
Date: Nov 7 07:05:52 2000
From: Martin J. Muller - MartinMuller at email.msn.com


Julie wrote (in part):

> Once full, the [immature peregrine] flew up to a tree on Fourth Avenue,
> where two crows spotted him/her and began to assert themselves. I
> watched one crow break off a twig from the leafless twig, and, knowing
> how intelligent they are, fully expected the crow to start wielding the
stick
> like a sword to rid the neighborhood of this interloper. But no, it merely
> dropped the twig to the ground. then pulled out another, then another,
> dropping each one. Anyone see such behavior before? I also observed the
> crows pecking away small chunks of bark.

Ever seen somebody get very frustrated and take it out on the nearest
inanimate object (like kick a tree or rock, or slam a door)? Same thing.
This crow got very upset/nervous with the presence of the raptor but knew
better than to go over and punch the bird.

Sometimes it works better: many years ago while watching the bald eagles in
Discovery Park the adult male eagle was sitting in a tree, minding his own
business. A crow landed on a nearby branch behind the and slightly above the
eagle and screamed and screamed at the egale, who did a great job of totally
ignoring the crow. The crow took his/her frustration out on a nearby side
branch; pecked at it. As luck would have it the twig extended over the head
of the eagle and the tip of the branch whacked the eagle in the head. That
made him look! And the crow screamed some more. The eagle gradually relaxed.
The crow screamed some more until he/she got all worked up again and hit the
branch. The eagle looked.
This was repeated some four or five times. Then the eagle very calmly took a
couple of steps sideways. The next time the crow pecked at the branch the
tip of the branch only hit thin air.
The eagle turned his head and looked at the crow who sat there muttering
away. I could have sworn I heard the eagle snicker....

Ah yes, the pleasure of anthropomorphism :)

But seriously, look for signs of frustration (or nervousness) being taken
out on something that won't hurt you. It takes many forms. From pecking at
inanimate objects to doing something like scratching your head.

As an aside: could you tell if the peregrine was banded (silver US Fish and
Wildlife band and possibly a black band with some letters/numbers on it) or
not?

Martin Muller, Seattle
MartinMuller at email.msn.com