** Reply to message from Hugh Jennings <hughbirder at bigzoo.net> on Tue, 28 Jan 2003 22:14:24 -0800


> I witnessed a disturbing incidence of crow behavior this morning at the Lake
> Hills Greenbelt in Bellevue. I heard a very loud chorus of crows usually
> associated with harassment of hawks or owls. In this case it was a group of
> 10-12 crows pecking at the head of another crow that was laying on the
> ground at the far side of a grassy field. The victim was flat on the ground
> with its wings splayed out. It would raise its head up in protest once in a
> while. There would be a large group of crows around the victim, then a
> number would fly away with 2-3 staying behind to continue the attack. The
> other crows would come back after a short while and join the attack again. I
> don't believe the victim could have survived this continuous attack. I
> watched through my binocs for about 5 minutes and left with the attack and
> noise still going on. I haven't seen this crow behavior before and was
> wondering what would prompt this type of vicious attack on one of your own
> species.

I witnessed the same type of corvicide two years ago in Vanderhoof, BC, not far from here. Helpless crow victim on the pavement and a raucous mob of crows pecking away at it. Reason for such behaviour is unknown to me and may never be known given that we cannot interrogate the offenders.

--
Jack Bowling
mailto: jbinpg at shaw.ca