Serious aerial combat or more light-hearted play? In this case I strongly suspect the former.
Two days ago at Farmington Bay WMA the American Crows were out in full force and seemingly determined to demonstrate that there’s a reason why a group of crows is called a “murder”. An unfortunate and greatly outnumbered Northern Harrier was the potential victim.
The gang of crows had no mercy on the harrier as they repeatedly chased and dive-bombed the hawk for at least a minute and probably closer to two. At first the combatants weren’t very close to me and the brouhaha lasted long enough for me to twice drive forward on the road in an attempt to get a little closer to them and then get them in my viewfinder again.
This first shot was one of my early photos when they were farthest away and close to the ground (we can see a hint of the horizon at the bottom of the frame), so the sky background is kind of a funky color and I don’t have a lot of detail. But I think the photo allows the viewer to imagine the speed of the chase and the aerial agility of both birds involved. And how challenging the action was to photograph well.
To me the crows seemed to be at least as fast and agile as the harrier, which took me a little by surprise. They had no trouble catching up to the fleeing harrier, repeatedly, as the hawk attempted to escape. In most of my photos, and I took a bunch of them, the harrier appeared to be looking back in an attempt to keep an eye on its pursuer(s).
Some of my photos that weren’t very sharp or had cut off body parts strongly suggest that there was actual physical contact, multiple times. If anyone was enjoying the encounter it certainly wasn’t the harrier.
I like this shot best because the harrier seems to know that its tail is about to get pulled. And it probably was.
Personally, I’m more than a little uncomfortable with calling a group of crows a “murder”. Kevin Dickinson, writing in Big Think, expresses some (only some) of my misgivings reasonably well when he says:
Why exactly is it a murder of crows? I know English has a fondness for giving animals fanciful group names, especially birds. A parliament of owls, a charm of finches, a lamentation of swans, the list goes on and on. But why are crows stuck with such a mean-spirited moniker, while ravens — a much larger member of the Corvidae family — live with the much less severe “unkindness of ravens”? For that matter, why the fancy group names in the first place?
I won’t lose any sleep over it but the whole idea of what Dickinson calls “fanciful names” for groups of specific birds seems to me to be fanciful in its own right. And often inaccurate and inappropriate to boot.
A “murder of crows” is at the top of my list of examples.
Ron
“And often inaccurate and inappropriate to boot. A “murder of crows” is at the top of my list of examples.”
I have a feeling that this poor Harrier would like 3 minutes for rebuttal.
Likewise, I always disliked the expression “murder of crows” especially for such intelligent birds.
Beatrice, I think it sounds disrespectful.
Very cool series, Ron! I’ve loved crows ever since watching them way back when in early mornings on my elementary school playground. They were always in a big flock on the ground, chattering and walking and doing crow things.
The Cornell Lab’s Bird Academy has a really interesting online bird course presented by Dr. Kevin McGowan – “Anything but Common: The Hidden Life of the American Crow”. Lots of fun!
Thanks for the suggestion, Carolyn. I’ll have to check it out.
I have developed a fondness for my neighborhood crows despite their bad habits (including soaking stolen grilled chicken and pork chops in my fountain). I think “mob” is a more appropriate appellation for them. While I don’t like the way they harass the local hawks, it seems the raptors can give as good as they get, and I hope your beautiful Harrier finally managed to elude her tormentors with all feathers intact.
The harrier came out just fine, Chris. They nearly always do.
Crows often chase raptors. I’ve seen a group of crows chase and take turns pulling the tail of a Cooper’s Hawk in flight and I’ve 2-3 crows drive a Red-tailed Hawk to the ground then dive on it and stand if front of the hawk on the ground loudly calling and harassing it I’ve only seen one attack on a Turkey Vulture and that was an attempt to drive it away from a carcass it was feeding on so that the crow could sneak in for a bite.
Many of these silly names for groups of birds seem to have started with the Victorians and continue to be created. I tried to track the origin of murder a few years ago but everyone seems to have their own ideas and there is little consistency. One reference saId it’s likely (his guess) that because they are often seem at carcasses, the assumption was made that they killed it. However, there are many other ideas. Some references trace it back to Middle English or to Old English. Still others say it has German, Dutch, or even Hindu roots. I prefer to completely ignore the term and simply refer to them as highly intelligent birds.
“I prefer to completely ignore the term and simply refer to them as highly intelligent birds”
A man after my own heart, Dan!
That third shot is a winner.
Thanks, Michael. I get a kick out of it too.
Very interesting post Ron. I always laugh at your use of kerfuffle. Other than your posts I don’t recall ever seeing that word. I like it.
The designation “Murder” should be assigned to Ravens. I have personally witnessed Ravens fly into an eagle’s nest here and kill the very young chicks while the mom was out looking for food. And then when she returned and was extremely angry, they stayed there to torment her until she finally was able to chase them. And in the spring right in our neighborhood as well as our riparian woods I have seen them going into nests and taken both eggs and little chicks to consume. They have often come to one of our birdbaths to dip their prey into the water. I thought they were washing, but Cornell says they do it to soften the prey.
I am sure you know more than I about Ravens, but after observing them here for many years I am convinced they are smarter than our larger and stronger eagles and raptors and really enjoy harassing them whenever they have the opportunity.
“I always laugh at your use of kerfuffle”
Everett, actually I’ve rarely if ever used kerfuffle in the past. But my readers use it a lot so I decided to steal from their playbook.
And you’re right – corvids, including ravens, are smart.
Great photos! It is really hard to get good photos of crows in flight, because their plumage is so dark and you have managed to get photos of very dark birds attacking a very light plumaged bird.
I think crows attack raptors and other large birds to chase them away rather than to kill them. Question: Are the crows protecting nests, or are they protecting territory, trying to exclude predatory birds from their territory? Or both. Or is it just the joy of combat?
Has anyone seen crows attacking turkey vultures? I see lots of turkey vultures here in the New Jersey suburbs, but have never seen one attacked by crows. On the other hand I have seen numerous attacks on hawks.
I am quite fascinated by crows. Along with gulls and cormorants they are one of the more successful bird species in surviving the destruction of bird habitat by humans in suburban areas.
With my Canon 7D2 I have about 10 photos of a single crow chasing a much larger seagull at least a quarter half a mile out to sea. So it’s not just mobs or murders of crows that will harass larger birds.
“you have managed to get photos of very dark birds attacking a very light plumaged bird”
Robert, in at least one of these photos I had to selectively adjust exposure on both birds during processing.
I’m sure we have all seen an “harassment” of crows go after various raptors. You refer to them as a gang in this situation and that seems suited to the occasion. Venery (a new tem to me) is fraught with undeserved misappropriation, so perhaps that should grant us permission to call groups of birds whatever we want without fear of censure by the “experts”.
Maybe the crow is jealous because his feathers appear badly in need of a molt compared to the impeccably feathered harrier.
I am impressed that you were able to get the birds in the frame without them being tiny dots in the distance. I have lots of the latter.
Lyle, they were pretty close to “tiny dots” but thanks to the R5’s 46 MP I still had enough pixels for acceptable documentary images.
WOW! Poor Harrier! Knock on wood we don’t have a lot of crows here tho their numbers seem to be increasing over time. Great capture! 🙂 Looks like some of the crow’s primaries are a little worse for wear…. “Little birds” getting on the Magpies is entertaining here from time to time…… 😉
Judy, we didn’t have crows in any numbers either, until a few years ago. Man, did that ever change.
Well shot and well said. That last shot is a killer (sorry).
Thanks, Burrdoo.
I’ve never seen large congregations of ravens except on a carcasse,but have seen huge flocks of crows numbering in the hundreds. There is strength in numbers with coordination and a single mindset.
“and a single mindset”
Steven, on that day their group mindset was to show that harrier who’s boss.
I would not be surprised to learn that some of those “fanciful” names originated with Chaucer or Shakespeare or John Donne.
Could be.
Superb action photographs as usual Ron.
Owls are considered wise. I think that in the UK the group name “parliament” might be supported by politicians to give themselves the appearance of wisdom. Something with which, I think, most people would disagree.
David, presuming that UK politicians are like ours, I agree with your disagreement.
The biggest difference between our politicians and those in the UK: in the UK every politician calls every other politician a “right honorable gentleman/gentlelady.” Other than that, I think there’s perhaps more booing and hooting and bad manners in Parliament than in Congress, even with MTG present.
“even with MTG present” says a lot!