Or perhaps it was a combination of revenge, anger and frustration. Or something else but I doubt it was simply play.
First some background.
In August of 2014 Utah in it’s infinite wisdom approved an annual crow hunt, despite the fact that virtually no one eats crows so their carcasses are simply left in the field to rot. In order to somehow “validate” the hunt DWR conveniently classified the American Crow as an “upland game bird” (gimme a break!). Utah code specifically prohibits the “waste” of any upland game but the Wildlife Board approved the crow hunt anyway.
I attended and spoke at the meeting of the Utah Wildlife Board where that decision was made and it was an unmitigated farce. If I’ve ever attended a meeting with a hidden pre-set agenda that was it. I’ve ranted about the meeting and this unfortunate decision in a previous post so I won’t do it again here but if you’re interested in more details about that ridiculous meeting and the hunt here’s the link to that post (scroll down to the end of the photos for the discussion).
Which brings me to yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA where I had an experience with an American Crow that still has me wondering about the cognitive abilities of the entire group of corvids, crows included.
1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
As I approached the crow on the ice and saw something red below “him” I assumed he was feeding on something bloody but when I got my lens on him it became instantly obvious that it was a spent shotgun shell (waterfowl hunting season closed a few weeks ago).
The crow was in a highly agitated state as he continually called out to his nearby companions with the spent shell at his feet.
1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Twice he picked it up and turned toward some of the other nearby crows before dropping it again.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
At one point he even set the shell on its end vertically at his feet and then resumed calling out excitedly.
While he was calling he was almost constantly flashing his nictitating membrane. Some corvids, Black-billed Magpies for example, are known to flash their whitish-blue membranes as a means of communicating with others of their own species so I have to wonder if that’s what this bird was doing. I suspect it was.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
This last time he picked up the shell he was on a mission.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
He turned his back to me (naturally, they always do…) and took off to the west with the shell still in his beak.
1/6400, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
By the time I regained focus on him he was about 70′ in the air and far away so this photo has been heavily cropped. He flew directly over a small but very thick patch of phragmites and dropped the shell into the middle of it. I missed the shots of the falling shell because I lost focus at exactly the worst time but I clearly saw it falling and where it landed.
Who knows what was really going on here. I certainly don’t but for me at least speculation is impossible to avoid.
I’ve reported what I witnessed as accurately as I possibly could so I’ll leave readers to their own thoughts about motivation.
Ron
Notes:
- I often get flack from a few readers when I imply or actually ascribe supposedly human emotions like anger or revenge to birds or mammals because in their view those emotions are exclusive to humans (or at least to primates). Over the years, despite my old-school training as a biologist, I’ve become increasingly skeptical of that view. But the merits of anthropomorphism is a subject for another day and another post.
- Thanks to Mia subscription emails containing links to my new posts are now sent by “Feathered Photography” like they used to be rather than by “WordPress.com”. There seemed to be a lot of concern about that from subscribers.
Like you I was trained as an undergrad biologist that blundering into the territory of anthropomorphism was to be guarded against at all costs. These days that thinking seems darkly antiquated. It brings to mind as well the way all the major global colonizing nations paint indigenous human populations as primitive, ignorant savages. That crows are still deserving of capricious eradication and that human populations still suffer under 15th century kinds of oppression speaks volumes about some heavy ethical lifting humankind still has not done. This is a great series of images. I’m voting with you. That crow was sending a clear and fully intentional message…to his kind and to ours.
Jim, I get a lot of great comments on my blog but that’s one of the most insightful and skillfully written comments I’ve read in a very long time. As one who attempts to communicate effectively using the written word on a daily basis I’m impressed. Kudos!
From what I’ve read, crows are CRAZY smart birds. It is likely that he’s seen a shell before, possibly in relation to gunpowder or a fellow dead crow. They have been known to a) react with excitement to humans who feed them [and occasionally, hilariously, will bring valuable-to-birds items to trade] and b) recognize and be aggressive with humans who have attempted to hurt them [swatting etc] to the point of telling other birds WHO DON’T KNOW THE PEOPLE how to recognize them and also avoid/posture at the disliked humans. It’s not just anthropomorphism that’s being ascribed to them – they’re smart and can differentiate people and things as safe/not safe.
…sorry, I really like crows.
Don’t be sorry. I know how you feel.
Have you watched this https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/a-murder-of-crows-introduction/5838/
I sure have.
I understand you becoming angry all over again. I once witnessed a pair of grackles grieving over their fallen nest and baby, and was so moved I wrote a poem about it. When I re-read the poem just now, it brought tear so my eyes again. Don’t tell me birds aren’t conscious, or compassionate, or caring. I’ve seen too much evidence to the contrary.
Ahem. That would be “tears to my eyes.” I got a little verklempt, there. That phase is the link, too. It seems to be black text, so I wanted to point it out in case it doesn’t show up easily for you.
“I’ve seen too much evidence to the contrary.”
I’ve seen it too, Shoreacres – although perhaps not as often as you. When it’s observed it really makes an impression.
It’s a beautiful and moving poem, Shoreacres.
When I switched to a new theme links were no longer underlined or a different color. I can add my own formatting when I post links (like I did for today’s link) but I can’t when others include links in their comments. So far we haven’t been able to fix it.
I have absolutely NO DOUBT that crow is upset by that shell and recognizes it as part of the wounding, and maybe death, of a companion…My crow, Corby, was not even subtle about his feelings toward things he considered a threat, dangerous, insulting or enraging,,,neither was Jack the Crack (grackle) or our ragdoll cat, when I rescued a mouse from him. He was no hunter but our other cat caught it and gave it to him. When I took it away from him and released it, he growled, hissed and cat cursed me for hours…every time he looked at me…nor was our dogs, especially our black lab mix, Bear, when I scolded him for licking my antler lamp. He’d roll his eyes toward me and cry…he was dramatic anyway…
You’ve had quite the menagerie over the years, Patty!
I sure have,,,sisters were much younger, no near neighbors…friends with local game warden…who trusted me with critters, my father’s naturalist cousins, and a friend who was the assistant director of the Rochester zoo..and, later, a reputation for accepting, rehabbing and releasing.
Anthropomorphism? I am a huge fan of anything that engages people and helps them more closely associate with our fellow residents on Earth.
A great philosophy, Marian.
Some 8,300 crows killed in 44 states by USDA Wildlife Services in 2018 (last year available), so Utah isn’t alone in killing them, although it may be unique in allowing idiots with guns to murder them for fun.
In my state, the Seattle-area dump uses various noise-makers, some of which are shot out of a pistol-launcher or a 12-gauge shotgun to keep gulls, starlings and crows (sometimes killing them) away from the garbage. Now they are asking the USFW for a permit to harass Bald Eagles (a protected species) as well. All this because the birds pick up the garbage that surrounding residents have produced and drop it back in their yards.
You couldn’t make this stuff up; I mean, who is the real pest here?
“who is the real pest here?”
Exactly, Lyle. Exactly!
Wonderful capture series and very nice light too. Animals are amazing and given less credit than they deserve.
I attended one of the meetings on the crow hunt and was so disgusted I have not attend any similar meeting like the one on the garbage dump in Box Elder or the Inland Port in Salt Lake. To me the minds of the law makers have decided and they are merely posting meetings to the public to say they took public input.
I think the there should be a line in your post similar to the one about corvids.
“still has me wondering about the cognitive abilities of the entire group of law makers and board officials.”
April, I think you’d enjoy a Facebook comment made on this post by my friend Jim DeWitt:
“Your story reminds me of a meeting of Alaska’s Board of Game on wolf hunting/trapping on the borders of Denali National Park. It’s a stupid idea, and one bit of public testimony was, “It’s important, gentlemen, that you be smarter than the animals you regulate.”
I am quite sure that birds/animals feel emotion.
I went back and read the earlier post on the subject and am sad and angry. One of our States is debating a hunting question now. Despite the appalling damage done by recent fires, and despite the drought they are considering whether to open hunting season on water birds – many of whom have taken sanctuary in one of the few areas with water.
Hiss and spit is as polite as I can be. Hiss and expletive spit.
SFB and the almighty $$ win most of the time….. 🙁 Not to mention those who are just into killing for killing sake…….
I’ll add some hiss and spit to your expletive, EC. I sure hope they decide not to go through with it!
Corvids are crazy smart, and this crow was proving the point in your photo sequence. I know you weren’t happy about him turning tail on you, but for some reason I love that departure image!
And yes, I’m one of those who is ridiculously overjoyed to see “Feathered Photography“ in my inbox this morning! 👍 to Mia (and you) for persevering.
I figured you’d sit up and take notice when your email came in this morning, Chris… 🙂
Ron, is anyone actually going crow hunting? I am recalling an article that perhaps you posted that indicated that no-one was actually getting permits/tags (not sure) to hunt crow. I do recall also when this passed and thought it was just really stupid. Supposedly someone thought that crows were causing a problem with feed or animals or something like that. While I did not grow up on a farm, I have lived in areas where I could work on them (changing sprinklers for example) and have visited family members who ran farms or ranches. I have never heard anyone in the farming and ranching community complain about crows as a problem to their operation (maybe some complaints about how smart they are or that they are stinkers). I have never seen a crow being a problem. I have seen other birds being a problem, especially starlings making a mess of feed at a dairy.
My Dad tells the story of seeing two crows in the garden when he was quite young. He sneaked up to his attic window and shot one of them with his new pellet gun. He says the other crow was so upset about what happened to his/her companion that he never shot at another bird again in his entire life.
Animals definitely have feelings/emotions and I believe they can experience feelings or emotions very strongly and in very sensitive ways. We don’t have much of an understanding of what they are experiencing. We don’t have a very good understanding of what other humans are experiencing for that matter.
Brad, I don’t think the crow hunt is heavily utilized by hunters. But some “hunters” out there will jump at EVERY opportunity to kill something. And now with crows they don’t even have to pretend they’re eating what they kill.
At the meeting several proponents of the crow hunt claimed it would help with crows causing problems for farmers and orchardists.. But when asked for evidence it was happening they could come up with absolutely no verified evidence. None.
I can’t escape my conviction that the crow recognized the threat and danger associated with the shotgun shell, and was compelled to warn others.
I am with you. Conservatively speaking 1000 per cent.
I certainly wouldn’t be surprised, Ken.
I am always amazing at the appallingly anti-wildlife decisions of state wildlife agencies, including ours in New Mexico, “The Hook and Bullet Club”. Fortunately the legislature at least banned coyote killing contests in 2019, if it were up to our Game and Department, we would have only hunted animals.
Gail, I have a friend in New Mexico, Ed Mackerrow, who was heavily involved in that successful effort to get coyote killing contests banned.
That was a huge effort. Kudos to your friend for all his work on that. Now, if we can ever get them to ban trapping it will be better. Remember, NM allowed cockfighting too until just a few years ago. It’s a lot like the Wild West here.
Thanks for your post!
I think those concerned with global climate change can empathize with the crow: we know what’s already killed others and likely will kill far more. So, in addition to anything else we can do, symbolic acts become important.
Understanding of symbolism in the animal world is a subject that fascinates me, Nancy. Now that takes some cognition – or some truly remarkable instincts.
There are numerous fine books and articles dedicated to the marvelous
intelligence of corvids ; if this bird was ever in the vicinity of one of those
insane “upland game bird ” hunts, I can only imagine its experience of the
sounds, fear, and the associated memory of the powder smell which would
cling to any shell, no matter how long ago it was fired–I have no question
that its behavior was appropriate and a signal of associated alarm.
I think so too, Kris.
It’s fascinating to speculate what really is going on in the mind of this highly intelligent bird. For those who insist that emotions are only in humans, they are simply wrong and this has been proven many time over across a wide spectrum of animals. As a life-long professional orinithologist,, I can tell you that there are numerous instances, especially with corvids, where emotions and intelligence can easily be proven. We do need to take care in how we interpret behaviors we observe, but to deny emotion or intelligence is simply wrong.
As a retired scientist I like Dan’s cautious interpretation of the crow’s behavior but agree it’s fun to speculate. Nevertheless the images are great, and I agree completely with Ron in his condemnation of the crow hunt.
I’d mostly put the crow hunt out of my mind until this post but now I’m angry about it all over again.
I couldn’t agree more, Dan – especially with your last sentence.
Wonderful post Ron. It brought to mind a book I really enjoyed reading titled The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman. She is a gifted science/natural history writer, and the title of the book says it all!
Sounds like an interesting book, Diane.
What an event to witness; I’m sure there are multiple opinions about the occurrence but in my mind I’m convinced the bird knew what the purpose of the shell was and where it came from. I especially like the spot he chose to drop it…smart! To me, the hunting of crows seems as wise as the hunting of mourning doves…one has to ponder the wisdom of homo sapiens at times. I am very guilty of assigning emotions or more correctly I suppose what I perceive as emotions to birds and animals but the more time I spend watching and observing interactions there is more there than a ‘bird brain’.
Kathy, at least with doves hunters typically eat the breasts. They don’t eat squat when it comes to crows.
Thanks for this interesting post, Ron. I very much enjoy your writing and photographs about bird oddities / behavior.
Thanks on both counts, Ed.
Powerful and sad post, Ron. Your comment regarding the Utah DWR … “annual crow hunt, despite the fact that virtually no one eats crows so their carcasses are simply left in the field to rot” … broke my heart. Not only is that cruel and wasteful, any predator, bird or mammal, that eats the birds will pick up the lead shot used to kill them thereby poisoning the predator and potentially its young. And after the birds that are not eaten rot the lead is left in the fields, waterways and forests to continue to poison our environment. Apparently lead shot is still permitted in Utah although not allowed when hunting waterfowl and coot. This annual hunt is reminiscent of hunts that lead to the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon. Utah and all states need to outlaw lead shot completely as well as outlaw hunts that encourage senseless killing.
“Apparently lead shot is still permitted in Utah although not allowed when hunting waterfowl and coot.”
Sadly that’s correct, Melanie. The manager of Farmington Bay WMA is also a hunter but he’s not a fan of having pheasant hunters out there because they still use lead shot.
He does look mad to me. Can’t blame him. Nice pictures Ron!
Thanks, Jean.
They are amazing birds! 😀 I’ve been in “pack rat” mode for awhile now so I was thinking “new toy” for my stash….. 😉 There still are “idiots”/”ignorant” folks out there when it comes to these type of “hunts”…….. Of course, here in MT, any bird that’s “black” is off limits” as they’re considered scavengers that are of benefit…. Wonderful capture and commentary Ron…… 🙂 Glad the Feathered Photography “from” is back – I’m always a bit wary of those things also……
Thanks, Judy. I know those emails from WordPress.com were making a lot of folks nervous.
Very smart indeed. He is yelling out to all his friends and relatives that this is the thing that is killing us. I don’t hunt, but don’t want to knock hunters. There are of course animals in the wild that do need thinning out etc, but I can’t think of anything more asinine than hunting crows. They are an essential part of the environment and are not negatively impacting anything that I know of. Here in the Prescott area we only have their cousins the ravens. Thanks for posting this interesting series.
Everett, “asinine” is a word I wish I’d used in my post. Several times…
I’ll bet the crowd was looking for a hunter to stick that shell…ahem. Many of my family are hunters. None of them (I think I am safe in saying) would have confine or participated in such a heinous event. We have coyote hunts in NM but they are slowly (too slowly) getting banned. Gah! I loathe senseless acts like this.
Arwen, there were many hunters at that meeting that opposed the crow hunt but the board passed it anyway. The vote was 3 to 2. And one of the board members, John Bair, conducted himself like a perfect asshole.
I would never underestimate how smart crows are. I have a family of three who show up every day for peanuts. I love and respect them. Interesting article.
Thanks, Sarah. Neither would I.
I love that you saw this and captured it for all to see Ron. They are very smart birds.
They sure are. Thanks, Thomas.