Karen
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Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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Very interesting research on size and biomarker differences suburban vs. rural. I live in suburban Maryland--although in an area full of wildlife with many large trees and parks of various sizes / wildness nearby. Our crows are huge! Whenever we see crows somewhere else, we comment on it: I'm not sure we've ever seen crows as large as ours anyway. (I can promise you: They are not ravens :-) ). I wonder what it is about our area that sustains this?
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I have a tangential comment / question -- about territory. We have what seems to me a lovely territorial situation for crows--ample food (including peanuts on ground) that we put out, many large trees, a stream right out back.... I commented on a previous module about a hawk attack on one in a family of four that had been regulars in our yard for several years. The family seemed to have success in rescuing their member--we saw all four crows in the yard thereafter, but not for very long. It then took years for us to see more than an occasional crow or two at our feeding station: Only this year have we had a family of six hanging out regularly. Could it be that our "territory" became branded as "dangerous" among the local crow community?
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1. Rarely--but just this morning I saw a group of ~25 cawing and agitating in the trees bordering the street on which we live. 2. Our largest flocks are common grackles--we've had more than 100 at a time swarm our backyard, often with 10-20 red-winged blackbirds and starlings and a few cowbirds mixed in.
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We saw something similar happen at our home in Central Maryland: The hawk chased a crow into the window and then took the stunned bird off in its talons. The family took off after it, frantically harassing. We saw the whole family of four thereafter--success.
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1. This is the coolest thing I'll probably learn from this lecture--that crow families are tight. Some time ago, we had what must have been a family of 4 with us for several years. Ultimately they disappeared, and we didn't see nearly as many crows for a while. Just this year a family of six showed up: They have been with us all summer. May they remain with us!
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4. I perceive that our songbirds greatly benefit from the local crows. The crows act as the sheriffs in town, sounding the alarm when raptors are nearby. I've seen our crows chase hawks as they initiate a foray toward the smaller birds.... The people also benefit: Their antics keep us happy. (Example: Pair of crows playing with a groundhog, alternating in pecking the groundhog's hindquarters just to see him jump!)
Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)