Right--and come mid-April, some person might just pick up a partly eaten, headless, tagged female crow under her nest and think...it was her first nest--what a short life, only 5 years, her nestlings gone, too! She could have had 6 more years at least, or more.
Boredom probably doesn't describe why the crows leave off (have seen them harrying owls for at least 6 hours)...nor a lack of memory for why they start over the next day. The crows aren't moving on...they are trying to move a dangerous thing out of their neighborhood, where their own kids need a chance at life. Yup--I took the bait. The story is all in your perspective, but I always find US interesting in siding with the one who has the kids at the time! Holding no grudges against owl-lovers, Anne On Feb 16, 2013, at 2:05 PM, Mona Bearor wrote: > I'll be thinking of your explaination when I visit the nest again, and I'll > be watching for that owl to sigh and plan its nightly menu! > Mona Bearor > So. Glens Falls, NY > On 2/16/2013 12:21 PM, [email protected] wrote: >> I think this is the sort of crap that Great Horned Owls have to put up with, >> and they get used to it. I suspect that what you saw is probably the >> pattern. Every day some crow "discovers" the owl, still in the same place on >> its nest, and raises the alarm, just as it would for an owl roosting in a >> new spot every day. All the other crows join in for awhile, so the whole >> crow community is aware of its presence, and the younger crows learn, "We >> don't like these guys." When they're satisfied and bored with lack of >> reaction from the owl on the nest, they move on. The owl sighs, reminds >> itself to eat some of those bastards come nightfall, and continues >> incubating, brooding, or guarding its young. >> --Dave Nutter >> >> On Feb 15, 2013, at 06:29 PM, Mona Bearor <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Yesterday morning I observed about 50 crows mobbing a Great Horned Owl on a >>> nest. It made me wonder if the crows could make the owl abandon the nest >>> with repeated harassment, or if they would just give up after a while. I >>> had an appointment so I couldn't stick around too long, but did watch this >>> behavior for over 20 minutes non-stop. The owl was still on the nest today. >>> >>> Any thoughts on this? >>> Mona Bearor So. Glens Falls, NY >>> >>> -- >>> Cayugabirds-L List Info: >>> Welcome and Basics >>> Rules and Information >>> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave >>> Archives: >>> The Mail Archive >>> Surfbirds >>> BirdingOnThe.Net >>> Please submit your observations to eBird! >>> -- >> >> -- >> Cayugabirds-L List Info: >> Welcome and Basics >> Rules and Information >> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave >> Archives: >> The Mail Archive >> Surfbirds >> BirdingOnThe.Net >> Please submit your observations to eBird! >> -- > > -- > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > BirdingOnThe.Net > Please submit your observations to eBird! > -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
