Greetings to all,
I have a soft spot in my heart and head for crows. Theses "rivers of crows" are common here in the Steilacoom area. During the winter months hundreds of not thousands stream from Steilacoom and Fort Lewis to the islands in the South Puget Sound every evening during the winter. In the mornings they return but not with so much fanfare.
Last month I happened upon two local groups of crows fighting in a parking lot near the Steilacoom ferry dock. I started to take a video of the fight as the birds hit the ground and things were getting ugly. The fight broke up and I changed the camera back over to picture mode and took a series of pictures of what happened after the fight ended. I have posted the video and one picture on Flickr. I posted the whole series of pictures on my blog. The camera is new and I missed a few settings that could have made the images better. Next time.
In short the "winning" crow pulled a feather from the losing crow. It then carefully cleaned the small bit of flesh from the quill and ate in flauntingly front of the losing team. It then flew up into the air dropping the feather for all to see three times as the winning team berated the losers. It ended in a screaming match with the victor flying off with a feather for a trophy. I feel the pictures on the blog are an interesting study in crow behavior.

Crow fight video
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25348030 at N07/5488008664/

Crow picture on flikr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25348030 at N07/5487435393/

My blog with the crow fight
http://birdmandea.blogspot.com/2011/02/ferry-dock-fight.html

Thanks to all, take care and keep watching those crows!

Dea Just
Steilacoom