Crows fluttering up, then falling repeatedly (1 Viewer)

[SeattleDan]

They may stop themselves mid-air, or they may brake a little and fall all the way to the ground. I've seen them do this, over and over, periodically for as long as I've lived here.

Is this some sort of male displaying behavior?

I saw one a bit ago, that fluttered up 75 yards or so, then fell fifty and caught itself, maybe ten times. Another crow noticed, came over to the same area, made a "flutter up" and "fall" as if in solidarity.

What are these guys doing?

thanks

 

[Allen S. Moore]

Hooded crows in the Isle of Man do something similar on rocky areas on the beaches. They pick up a shellfish and drop it on the rocks. If it doesn't break first time they try again. Of course, that would appear the way you describe the behaviour of your crows, "falling" and "fluttering up".

 

[SeattleDan]

I'm on a river. From what I can see, they are doing this over pasture, but they don't normally dive down all the way to the ground. That's like every 20th dive maybe. I'm no birder, I should add, but an admirer. Our fresh water crustaceans never come on land and if they did, they are easily torn apart. I'll try to get a more magnified view of them to see if they're dropping anything. There is a patch of road over there, so perhaps it's something like you've said. We do have fresh water clams, come to think of it, and the crows do gather on the rocky beaches here. I assumed it was just for bathing.

 

[Allen S. Moore]

I also have a distant memory of a film on the internet of a species of crow that drops a potential food covered with shells (nuts, from what I remember) in front of traffic lights so that the traffic breaks the shells. When the lights turn red, the crows fly down and get the food. Can some one please tell me that I'm not imagining this!

 

[dantheman]

I also have a distant memory of a film on the internet of a species of crow that drops a potential food covered with shells (nuts, from what I remember) in front of traffic lights so that the traffic breaks the shells. When the lights turn red, the crows fly down and get the food. Can some one please tell me that I'm not imagining this!

Heard this too. I believe it was in Japan ???

Googled -

https://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&saf...50,d.d2k&fp=cb9df04a10e3c0b7&biw=1280&bih=826

 

[SeattleDan]

Yes, there was a PBS Special

I think this is the video documentary that includes the Japanese Crows using traffic to crack nuts. You can find snippets on Youtube and the full documentary is view-able online at PBS.org ...

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/a-murder-of-crows/full-episode/5977/

...but I believe it's not viewable outside the U.S. Apparently they're selling hard copies as part of the fund raising they do.

I don't know where else you'd find it.

 

[SeattleDan]

I still think what I"m seeing is some form of social activity here though. They don't go all the way to the ground when they "plummet" in feigned free fall.

 

[Allen S. Moore]

Heard this too. I believe it was in Japan ???

Googled -

https://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&saf...50,d.d2k&fp=cb9df04a10e3c0b7&biw=1280&bih=826

Thanks, Dan, your link allowed me to find the link to a David Attenborough film clip from Japan of the crow that waited for the lights to change on a pedestrian crossing!