Crows and Ravens (1 Viewer)

[Gentoo]

This is mainly for our European birders. Do the Carrion and Hooded Crows harass ravens? American crows do this all the time, often ganging up on them. Today I saw about 3 American crows terrorizing a single Raven. At one point the raven attempted to defend itself but he very quickly wish he hadn't as this pissed the crows off!

 

[John P]

Crows seem to harass anything remotely seen as a threat. I've certainly seen them harassing Kestrels, Owls, Buzzards and Ravens.

I've even seen your 3 to 1 ratio around the other way, one Crow taking on three Buzzards.

 

[Peewit]

Crows seem to harass anything remotely seen as a threat. I've certainly seen them harassing Kestrels, Owls, Buzzards and Ravens.

I've even seen your 3 to 1 ratio around the other way, one Crow taking on three Buzzards.

Hi John

I have seen Crows harassing Buzzards in Scotland, in every way they can. Owls, hold their own I am sure.

Buzzards do not seem to be flustered about the threat of Crows, as they seen to be so laid back as BoP's go.

Never seen a Raven yet, and I do not how widely dispersed they are over the UK as it is at the moment.

Love to see one, alive, and flying about.

Regards
Kathy

 

[Himalaya]

crows harrass sparrowhawks but sparrowhawks react aggressively ......from what i see

crows do harrass ravens and ravens harrass crows........i was in the lake district once and i saw a complete spectacle in the air.......buzzards, carrion crows and ravens.....buzzards dont seem to mind.....

i saw photos of a hooded crow mobbing a goshawk.....i have seen some of ravens and crows in action together......

 

[Gentoo]

Yeah I've seen crows harass birds of prey all the time. In fact I saw one screwing around with a Red-Shouldered Hawk. The hawk flew a short distance away and circled back around. Then nailed the crow on the ground. The crow did manage to get away but the hawk made his point.

 

[Gingling]

Howdy :>

Although this thread is for no American Birders I am going to throw in my two cents if you do not mind.

Some years back there were many dozens of adult and juvenile ravens feeding in my front yard one day when a single crow came into the feeding area.

It landed very close to a group of juvenile and adult ravens that were feeding on chunks of meat.

When I feed ravens hundreds come in at times.

At the time the crow came in there was corn on the ground that I put out to see if any of the ravens from my area would eat it.

They would not and to this day still will not even look at it but the crow wanted it badly enough that day to risk the wrath of over one hundred ravens in order to eat it.

When the crow landed close to the ravens they talked allot and used a lot of gestures with each other but nothing serious aimed in the crows direction.

The crow watched them as it started consuming the corn and did not say a word. Then one of the juvenile ravens croaked and started walking towards the crow.

An older larger raven quickly stepped in the path of the juvenile raven and stopped it dead in it's tracks.

There was an exchange of looks and the juvenile returned to where it had been standing prior to it's advancement towards the crow and stood with the rest of the adults and juveniles.

They allowed that particular crow to feed in their territory within just a few feet of them until all of the corn was gone and did not harass the crow at all.

The much smaller visitor fed and then left totally without any harassment at all from the larger ravens.

The ravens could have chased that crow down with no problem and killed it if they had wished to do so.

There was no animosity at all I think because the crow only wanted the corn and not the meat the ravens so highly prize here.

Even so , when breeding season starts no crow comes within many miles of here because they simply can not survive the shear number of attacks put out by the territorial owners in this raven hold.

For that reason your question regarding the mobbing behavior caught my attention. Without very good reason , mobbing is not seen as a desired behavior by the ravens of my area.

I would love to know if American crows would act the same as our local ravens did that day under similar circumstances with an obvious advantage in numbers over a single raven.

Gingling

 

[Gentoo]

If I understand your question correctly, are you asking if American Crows would harass the Ravens? If so, not alone. The two often avoid one another. Usually one of these species outnumbers the other. 10 years ago, crows were almost unknown in San Diego. Today they are ubiquitous and the numbers of Ravens seems to have declined just slightly. American Crows will sometimes go out of their way to chase down Ravens. I saw it again today and almost everyday since I started this thread and it's obviously not the breeding season.

A single American Crow would not be caught dead in a flock of Ravens as far as I have seen. Generally, the American Crow is quite gregarious and never travels alone especially between October and February.

 

[Gingling]

Interesting observation from your geographical area. Thanks!

I have been monitoring the raven population to some extent in your area with interest.

Ravens living within dense human populations are becoming more common where crows have thrived in the same conditions for a much longer period of time.

Ravens have not as a rule done well living in densely populated cities in America and Canada as history has proven in the past and yet they seem to be slowly adapting and learning to hold their own in areas that have historically not allowed them .

There have only been a few crows here over the years. One was allowed to come into my feeding station and feed among ravens without incident, the others were driven away brutally by the ravens.

Successfully rehabbed ravens raised in the company of crows will accept them. Perhaps that was what was at play in my feeding station that day. It is still a mystery to me and violates ever report I have heard regarding wild crow and raven interactions and I may never know why the single crow was allowed.

There are over three thousand ravens here right now and they are still coming down from the eastern slops of the cascades. They will continue to come in well into the end of this month to.

It is a larger roost then the one in Boise Idaho in fact. It is near my home so I spend every day with them or watching them as I have for forty six years.
Only once in all this time have I seen a crow feed among them.
Corvidae are amazing beings.

JR.Inghram

 

[Gingling]

10 years ago, crows were almost unknown in San Diego. Today they are ubiquitous and the numbers of Ravens seems to have declined just slightly.

Are the ravens there doing any tree toping during the nesting or are they hanging low and out of sight?

Thanks in advance

JR.

 

[Gentoo]

10 years ago, crows were almost unknown in San Diego. Today they are ubiquitous and the numbers of Ravens seems to have declined just slightly.

Are the ravens there doing any tree toping during the nesting or are they hanging low and out of sight?

Thanks in advance

JR.

The Ravens here prefer to nest on cliffs, sometimes on tall buildings. The Crows prefer the dense stands of trees near streams and the like. In my condo complex there is a resident pair of ravens that nest somewhere either in or near the complex each year as I see their newly fledge young every summer. The adults are much more vocal and active during the breeding season. They also share this complex with a pair of Red-Shouldered Hawks and Barn Owls.

I think one reason why there may be a difference in behavior from where you are to where I am could be due to the differences in the numbers of each species. It seems that ravens are much more numerous where you are and have the upper hand. In San Diego, the crows are abundant, seriously everywhere! Each evening between August and February they from huge roosts and many large flocks of them can be seen commuting to where they roost. The Ravens are much more local, not rare by any means but certainly not so numerous. And again just a little over 10 years ago, there were no crows in San Diego. This was about the southern most tip of their range in California. They now have the upper hand as far as corvids go.

 

[luke]

Owls, hold their own I am sure.

I was at portland back in october and was watching short eared owls. A magpie was having a go at one of the owls. suddenly the owl flipped around and the magpie flew off a bit quick. Then in the same field only about an hour later we saw a dead magpie with crows eating it, we assumed the owl had done the damage.