Hi Jim,
Crow's definitely have territories, though if a reliable food source is no longer producing, they can give up a territory and relocate.
The flock of about a dozen crows that is often present in my pasture was/is reliably identifiable by one member with a leg injury. They spend their morning hours flipping through piles of horse manure looking for insect larvae. They also go into the neighbors yard at intervals to check for scraps that she puts on a platform. In the evening they join a larger group and head down toward the Port Townsend Ferry to roost.
Even a large Merlin Falcon poses no significant threat to a crow. The Merlin is sometimes colloquially referred to as the "Pigeon Hawk," though they rarely capture and consume "Pigeons" (as Rock Doves…Columbia livia are often erroneously called) A Rock Dove is a real handful for a Merlin, though manageable by a large aggressive falcon (female).
Other factors are at play as well. A crow is a very long lived, sturdily built bird, whereas a dove is much easier for a falcon to kill, pluck, and eat, not to mention much tastier. A Merlin prefers to pluck and eat in a treetop. Thus small passerines, up to and including starlings and robins are preferred. A male (Jack) Merlin will not normally capture prey larger than a starling. A large Merlin falcon is hard pressed to carry a Mourning Dove to any height.
Carrying is a problem for the falconer, as you can imagine, and the strong tendency to carrry is one of the things that makes hunting with a Merlin a challenge.
A dove or pigeon meal is a peaceful one for a raptor, whereas eating crow is difficult since the whole flock is incensed and will literally try to tear a raptor apart if he/she is anchored to the ground by the weight of a crow.
Mark Borden
Coupeville, WA.
Sent from my iPhone
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Message: 1
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Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2023 12:55:27 -0700
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From: jimbetz at jimbetz.com
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To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
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Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Raptors at Play ... and crows
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Message-ID:
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<20230911125527.Horde.5SFeQWCCOVCpWlcx5WoFITy at webmail.jimbetz.com>
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Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed; DelSp=Yes
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Hi - continuing the thread ...
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Late last week there was an 'encounter' between what was probably a Merlin
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and a Crow. The crow was mobbing/harassing the Merlin which was
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sitting on the
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roof ridge right below our house. Finally the Merlin moved but the crow
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continued to hassle it. Then the Merlin went after the crow ... which flew
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into a tree and the Merlin broke off and perched in the same tree several
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branches below. The crow then took flight and turned and went after the
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Merlin (below). The Merlin took off and chased the crow. Back and forth
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two more times for 3 or 4 total 'encounters' (exchanges) between these two
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birds. Finally the Merlin left the area and the crow didn't pursue.
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I interpreted this as "territorial" ... although it makes little sense
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since there are no active crows nests in the area. (Sorry, couldn't
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resist using "Crows Nest" - my nautical background kicking in.) But
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crows do -seem- to be territorial from time to time without an active
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nest.
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In fact, I saw a pair of crows in New Westminster just yesterday and I'd
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swear on a stack of bibles that it was the same two birds I'd seen at the
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same location (street in front of home in residential area) months ago.
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The "bibles" comes from the way these two 'related' to each other with
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one clearly the dominant and the second 'fawning' to its object of
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interest (the dominant one) and following it around and doing the same
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stuff it did months ago at the same location. Both times I was parked
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on the same street in the same location and there were two crows that
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were 'messing about' (not courting - just "doing stuff") and were
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clearly 'together'. Perhaps a more accurate description would be that
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one was following the other around and the one being followed was
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tolerating the other. But then, every once in a while you would see a
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"bill clattering" between the two of them.
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Q: Do crows take up residence in an area that is fairly specific? And
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stay there/reappear there over a period of months?
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The encounter(s) reported above did not -seem- to be play. They seemed
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to be "reciprocative mobbing" in the first case and 'hanging out together'
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in the second case.
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- Jim
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Message: 2
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Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2023 00:08:16 +0200
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From: Diann MacRae <tvulture at gmx.com>
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To: tweeters t <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
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Subject: [Tweeters] August 2023 TVU report
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