dec 10
cool city bird sighting:
Frank C. was headed to the subway for his usual morning commute when he saw a flurry of activity across the street, in a patch of grass that could referred to as a yard if you happen to live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Mere feet from people walking along the sidewalk, a hawk was dramatically murdering a sparrow. It repeatedly flew up and pounced down on the tiny thing, ignoring the passers-by, until Frank edged a bit too close, whereupon it took the then-motionless sparrow up to a branch nearby. At this point, Frank reports, things got even more interesting: the hawk (which I think was a Cooper’s or Sharp-shinned Hawk, from his description) happened to pick a branch already inhabited by a squirrel. The squirrel squared off and rushed the hawk, knocking it off of the branch and into the air. The hawk then flew across the street and began ripping feathers out of its catch - this is pretty brutal to watch, if you have ever witnessed it, like a little pillow fight - a good lesson in just how much of a bird is comprised of feathers. It all went down above the heads of the other pedestrians. AND NO ONE NOTICED A THING.
On the other hand, sometimes people do notice; this video, while long, is from an older couple in Massachusetts who not only noticed some unusual animal behavior, but also thought to actually document it. Please ignore all cheesy reporting and music and hang in there, the footage is worth it. In a random coincidence, the veterinarians interviewed used to be my vets when I lived in Providence…
December 11th, 2007 18:51
Catherine:
As to not noticing wildlife, my favorite similar experience took place 12/23/82. Someone called and reported a SNOWY OWL in downtown Worcester. We rushed down and there perched on a corner of a building, overlooking the busy town commons, was an immature Snowy Owl. We set up a scope. No one asked what we were looking at. At one point, the bird launched itself off the cornice, flew very low over the commons, literally a foot or two over the c. 60+ last minute Christmas shoppers heads, and landed on the city hall. NO ONE NOTICED, NO ONE.Yikes!
But lest we birders get all smug, I have been with butterfliers and plant folks who see tons of small stuff right in front of me I never noticed, even though sometimes I was even looking. So, it’s all in your mind set and search image.
RE: the film. I have seen it before and wonder what was really going on. Unfortunately the film is heavily edited. If I know crows, it was probably trying to choke the cat on worms or some other diabolical thing. There are numerous stories of crows recognizing crow hunters, not while they are hunting, but during the work week as they walk down the street, and the crows begin to mob the person. I once daily fed a crow that had some white primaries (hence easy to recognize)in my backyard. It waited in a tree till I came out, never got too close and then took the food I threw down for it. I didn’t much of it, till I was at a WAM staff party at Jim Welu’s house (museum director). Damn it if that very crow found me, flew down among the partying guests and begin to raucously call at me to feed it. It disappeared after the winter, only to show up again the following fall with what appeared to be it’s young. This went on for several years. And Bob Stymeist, leading birder of MA, swears he once watched a one-legged crow trying to fit a stick onto its stub so that it would act like a prosthetic device!
December 11th, 2007 19:23
While watching the footage I had the feeling that the heavy editing was due to squabbling between the kitten and the crow - every time the kitten was about to pounce on the crow, it conveniently cut away… and like you said, crows are diabolically pesky, and intelligent. The two probably fought like cats and dogs.
December 11th, 2007 19:24
p.s. great stories!