Wow. Interesting observations. Like all the other resident birds, the crows are feeling the increasing day length and are getting ready to breed. Although they shouldn't have eggs until the last week of March or so, now is the time to get back into the swing of keeping everyone else out of the territory. Boundaries can get a bit sloppy in the winter, but as you noticed, it's getting serious now. Crow territories shift a bit from year to year, sometimes quietly and sometimes with a lot of fighting. Territorial disputes have the potential to be fatal, but that happens only rarely.
Kevin From: bounce-5331402-3493...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-5331402-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of cfschm...@aol.com Sent: Saturday, February 20, 2010 10:54 AM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L@cornell.edu Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Crow gang wars Interesting situation just now at our feeders -- Tagged TW and his crew began cawing loudly and I looked out when the din really increased, and was surprised to see a major fight among about 10 crows. They were down on the ground, tumbling and pecking and fighting in the snow. They cawed and fought for what seemed a long time, maybe 30 seconds or so of serious aggression. Then both groups flew off in different directions, and I can still hear them up in neighboring pine trees. Even the squirrels and other birds froze, to watch this battle. Carol Schmitt -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
