Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Raven Behaviour

Several years ago *(January, 2011) I took these photos posted below and I had identified the birds as crows. I believe my identification was incorrect  and they were Ravens, not crows, as I had assumed. Shortly after my posting, I received the following message from an  internet acquaintance living in upstate New York ;

"Sent my son to your crow blog since he knows a crow expert at the university he works at, and she says your photos were fine examples of "cuddling" behavior among ravens."
Yesterday morning I saw these two crows shown above, side by side on a branch of an old dead tree. They looked and appeared to be very companionable
together.
Then I
noticed that the crow on the right appeared to be feeding the crow on the left. I pulled my car over onto the shoulder of the road and stopped hoping to capture in pictures what was going on between the two crows.


The crow on the right seemed to be picking something up from the branch it was standing on.


Once more the crow on the right appeared to be feeding the crow on the left.
Is this usual observable behaviour between crows? I haven't observed this sort of happening before!
The action did not appear to create any hostility between them..
As I was parked along the highway, I drove on leaving the crows behind.. They were not to be seen when I passed that spot again on my way home.


12 comments:

trav4adventures said...
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Becky said...

Wow, Ann, this is different. We have a lot of Crows here, and I get to see them every day, and have never seen this type of behavior. I'll be interested to see if someone knows why.
Have a great day.
B.

Empty Nester said...

You got some very nice shots. I'm quite interested to know what you find out about their behavior!

Sondra said...

It could be courting behavior..I know that cardinals start feeding their mate before they begin nesting, Great series on crow behavior!!

Hilke Breder said...

Interesting! I agree it's probably courting behavior - like giving presents and hoping to find favor...

Ruth Hiebert said...

That does seem to be unusual behaviour for birds.I have never heard of it before.You captured this moment well.
Ruth

Springman said...

I tested this behavior with Suzanne today on the chance it was a courting ritual. No luck. She seems to respond better to my Bird of Paradise dance.

theconstantwalker said...

Its great to watch birds at this time of year. So much to observe.

holdingmoments said...

I agree with the courting behaviour.
Fascinating to watch bird behaviour.

Andrea said...

I love this post. Crows have such odd behaviors but you've captured something special.

Mike B. said...
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Unknown said...
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