Some of you may recall that I have blogged in the past about the American crows (Corvus brachyrynchos) that come to visit us. We feed them, having saved all manner of juicy morsels for them, and they have "made friends" with Miriam more than with me since she feeds them most frequently. Hence the name, Miriam's Crows.
They generally appear less frequently in the spring and early summer when they are busy with the serious business of raising young, but reappear with their usual regularity when the young fledge, sometimes bringing the kids to visit.
This year, however, for a couple of moths they abandoned us completely, and we are at a loss to explain why. They had reached the point where they showed no fear of us and knew that there would be food laid out.
Over the past few weeks crows have returned, but we are not quite sure whether they are "our" crows. They are much more wary, feed cautiously and fly off at the slightest provocation.
Traditionally, five crows came to visit a couple of times a day, but now only two, at times three, are seen in the yard. Are these new birds? What happened to the original five? It seems incomprehensible that all of them could have met a bad end somehow, but I can't think of another reason why they abandoned a guaranteed source of food, available without danger.
We are delighted to enjoy the regular company of these handsome intelligent birds, and wish they could let us know what happened.
We'll just continue to enjoy them, however; of that you may be sure.
Recommended reading list for Corvids (Crows, Ravens, Magpies and Jays)
The Magpies, T.R. Birkhead, T & A.D. Poyser Ltd (1991)
Ravens in Winter, Bernd Heinrich, Vintage Books (1991)
Mind of the Raven, Bernd Heinrich, HarperCollins (1999)
Crows and Jays, Steve Madge and Hilary Burn, Houghton Mifflin Company (1994)
In the Company of Crows and Ravens, John M. Marzluff and Tony Angell, Yale University (2005)
Gifts of the Crow, John Marzluff and Tony Angell, Atria Paperback, a Division of Simon and Schuster, Inc. (2012)
Crows, Candace Savage, Greystone Books (2005)
The Raven, Derek Ratcliffe, T & A.D. Poyser Ltd (1997)
...bye, bye blackbird!
ReplyDeleteVery curious!
ReplyDeleteperhaps they reached the end of their natural lifespan but weird that all five would die the same year. I wonder if the new crows are some of the original five's offspring.
ReplyDeleteThat thought has crossed our minds.
DeleteCongratulations to Miriam for those good photos, both the first one and the one with the snow are great.
ReplyDeleteI hope the absence is that they have found a better place, although I think that is complicated...
Thank you david, un abrazo