I love to watch birds in my backyard. Right now lots of hummingbird are hovering around the orange blossoms. A pair of mourning doves are regular visitors. I’ve seen little yellow finches checking out my flowers, and some plain looking brown birds walking around the grass. I watch with envy when they just take off. Wouldn’t that be cool.
There is an occasional hawk. They always amaze me how they fly away without a sound and then ride the wind.
We have an abundance of crows. For a long time I just thought of them as being noisy and gutsy – I have watched them many times chase away hawks hanging out in the redwood trees. But then I’ve seen mockingbirds chase the crows away. And of course, who hasn’t seen them standing around in the street eating roadkill?
But my whole opinion of crows changed first with a guest column someone wrote in the newspaper about them. And then from a PBS show. The column was a long time ago and mostly what I remember is that crows mate for life.
The television show was recent and really gave me a whole new respect for crows. For one thing I didn’t know that a group of them was called “ a murder of crows.” But here comes the amazing stuff. It turns out that crows are as smart as apes. What a surprise. And why is it that they are considered so smart? It seems that the main thing is that not only are they able to use tools, they can problem solve and make a tool. Not only that, but they can recognize people’s faces and warn their fellow crows when somebody is a menace.
But I wonder, does that mean when somebody calls you an old crow, it’s a compliment?
What is your favorite outdoor creature?
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9 comments:
The birds in my backyard are similar to yours, Betty, which isn't too surprising since we don't live too far apart. I love to see them all and to watch my younger dog Mystie, who thinks she's a bird dog, chase them. I've even enjoyed crows but will watch them more closely now. I'd no idea they were so smart!
Your blog post is something to crow about!
I love birds, too. But crows? While I respect them, I don't necessarily like them. My husband LOVES them and when we first moved here he started feeding them. After about two weeks of that I had to ask him to stop. We were awakened every morning by very hungry, very NOISY crows. LOL. I much prefer the hummingbirds.
Crows are very, very bright. They are also aggressive, cruel, thievish predators. A group is called a "murder" because of numerous eyewitness accounts of a strange behavior during which a big mob of them will surround a single one and, after some noisy commentary, the mob will attack and kill the single one. No one knows why, yet, but animal behaviorists are on the case. The problem is that crows all look alike and it's hard to distinguish individuals.
I should add that I, too, like crows!
Linda, I have the reverse going on in my yard. I have seen mockingbirds chase my dog, though she seems totally unaware.
Planner, Lol!
Mollie, I can see your point. Crows might be smart, but they are big and noisy. On the other hand, hummingbirds are magical.
Monica, the show I watched only talked about crows positive side, or maybe that's all I remember. I had no idea they executed their own.
I was surprised that they get run over a lot. I guess they don't understand cars until it's too late.
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