Photo credit: Litchfield Greenprint / Wendy Carlson
This is what my drive to work looks like to the bald eagle I saw today.
The bird was down in the shadows next to the river, and later I got to watch it flying out low over the water to a chorus of angry crows.
Mobbing behavior by crows and ravens appears to be innate, and probably has more to do with purging their territories of potential predators (especially Great Horned Owls) than high jinx. On the other hand, if they are hardwired to do so, they may not give much thought as to why, and are certainly smart enough to have fun while they are doing it.
Posted by: Tim Abbott | October 08, 2009 at 03:49 PM
Tim, a nature question: why do crows scold hawks and eagles? Is it territorial instinct? Crows love to chase the big birds all up and down the Salmon Kill Valley. They almost seem to be having fun.
Posted by: Terry Cowgill | October 08, 2009 at 03:03 PM