[va-bird] Crow predation

Today I witnessed several American Crows killing then eating a juvenile 
robin. With 50-plus years of nature observation, this is the first time I've 
seen 
crows do this. I know they take eggs and nestlings, but this was a bird that 
could fly and was foraging on its own. It and 2 siblings have been around our 
house for the last week, often accompanied by their parents.  I had read 
somewhere that urban crows might be partly to blame for the steep decline in 
nighthawks in many American cities, and given their other recent adaptations to 
urban 
living I wonder if this is the beginning of a new chapter of crow-as-raptor.  
I hope not as our native birds already have enough trouble surviving in the 
urban environment. If it is, it might not be such a bad thing that WNV is 
taking 
the crows down a notch or two.  Only time will tell.  Have others seen crows 
killing birds that are not dependent fledglings?
I enjoyed the cuckoo exchange too. I've seen Yellow-bills feeding a cowbird 
chick, but not the reverse.

Dave Davis
Arlington

PS. I get these messages in digest mode. Is there some way that I can avoid 
getting all of the redundant text that apparently results from people copying 
and retransmitting the original message ?  Thanks.


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