Yes, it is sad that crows harass other birds and eat
there young. However, to say crows suck seems somewhat
inappropriate. Crows are what they are. And we as
humans kill and harass far more birds and other
animals than all crows collectively. Crows are highly
intelligent birds with excellent memories. They are
also quite successfully filling a human created niche.
So you can say that humans suck, but IMHO, you aren't
a real birder if you can't see beauty in crows. They
are much maligned, and unfortunately so. You are
entitled to your opinion, but I like to see both sides
represented.

Brett Wolfe

--- Raymond Vought <RVought at telisphere.com> wrote:
> I saw three crows harassing a pileated woodpecker at
> the 40th st. transit
> center in Redmond.
>
> The pileated was working around one of the few
> remaining trees on the site,
> a Doug fir ~1.5' dbh. After ~ 5 minutes three
> crows flew up and drove the
> Pileated a short distance to the South into a
> cluster smaller deciduous
> trees. The crows seemed to take a minute or two to
> goof off, and then flew
> over to clear the Pileated out of that sanctuary.
> The pileated returned to
> the original fir, and one crow pursued . . . the
> crow pressed home the
> attack, forcing the pileated to circle twice for
> altitude, and then it
> headed North above 156th and left the area.
>
> The pileated seemed to be a small individual, even
> before the crows showed
> up. When they did, it was clear that the pileated
> was sub-crow sized.
>
> Despite the unfortunate interactions, it was a
> spectacular display.
>
> Crows suck.
>
> The setting for this drama was until recently a
> pretty good bit of suburban
> habitat, a heavy wooded wetland. A raptor nest used
> to be visible in there
> in the wintertime, from buildings to the East. It
> may have belonged the
> redtail hawks that can often be seen perched on the
> streetlight posts around
> the 148th St and SR 520 interchange.
>
> Now the place has been pretty much entirely paved.
> An acre or more of this
> pavement is one of those big stupid bus
> turn-arounds, that waste time,
> pollute the atmosphere and nauseate the bus
> passengers. As a daily rider,
> this type of architecture seems to me to be designed
> to discourage ridership
> by making sure the bus is as slow as possible. I am
> tempted to conclude
> that some really cynical pro-sprawl lobby is behind
> it.
>
> RFV
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu
> [mailto:TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu]On Behalf Of
> Rachel Lawson
> Sent: Wednesday, May 08, 2002 5:19 PM
> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Subject: Crows kill Bald Eagle in Kirkland
>
>
> I was volunteering at the Seattle Audubon Nature
> Shop this morning, when a
> woman from Kirkland brought in a dead Bald Eagle.
> She said that the eagle
> had been trying to rob a crows' nest, and was
> attacked and killed by a
> multitude of crows. The eagle tried again and again
> to get the crow babies
> even as it was being attacked. It still had
> nestling crow bodies clutched
> in its talons. A neighbor told the woman that a
> pair of eagles had been in
> the area for awhile. I don't know what condition
> the eagle was in (I
> should have checked), or whether it may have had
> young in a nest of its
> own. I wonder if desperation drove it to keep
> trying to get the crow
> babies instead of escaping.
>
> Another Audubon volunteer took the eagle to the
> Burke Museum, whence it
> will be sent the federal repository for eagle
> remains.
>
> Rachel Lawson
> Seattle
> RachelLawson at softhome.net
>


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