[wisb] Re: Cooper's and crows playing "tag"

Last year we had both Cooper's and crows raise families in the 
neighborhood. For at least a couple of weeks, we and the neighbors were 
highly entertained by daily "dogfights". Sometimes the Cooper's would be 
after the crows, then the crows would go after the Cooper's: back and 
forth at high speed over the house and garden. Then they'd all sit 
within a few feet of one another in the same large oak tree. They 
appeared to be thoroughly enjoying the game.

Karen Etter Hale
Lake Mills
NW Jefferson Co.

On 9/15/10 9:25 AM, B.G. Sloan wrote:
> There's a large grassy lawn dotted with a few trees in Milwaukee's Veteran's 
> Park.
>
> Yesterday afternoon there were 4-5 crows hanging out on the lawn, when 
> suddenly a large immature Cooper's Hawk flew out of some trees by the lagoon. 
> It picked out a crow, swooped down on it, tapped it with its feet, and made 
> this loud guttural call. The Cooper's then flew up into a nearby tree.
>
> Not to anthropomorphize too much, but the crow looked genuinely embarrassed 
> that it had been taken by surprise. Its feathers were all ruffled and it was 
> making low muttering sounds.
>
> The other crows acted as if nothing had happened, which surprised me. I 
> expected them to get all agitated and go after the Cooper's. After about a 
> minute, one of the other crows flew up into the tree where the Cooper's was. 
> It was quiet for about 30 seconds. Then the crow burst out of the leaves with 
> the Cooper's in close pursuit. Some fancy aerobatics ensued for about 20 
> seconds. Most of the time the Cooper's was doing the chasing, but once the 
> crow manuvered so that it was behind the hawk.
>
> The Cooper's then flew back up into a tree. Another crow slowly flew past the 
> hawk, as if challenging it to another "game". The Cooper's took the bait and 
> there was another chase. The scenario repeated itself several times.
>
> One by one the crows drifted away, seeming to grow tired of the sport. The 
> Cooper's and the last crow started one final chase and wound up on the 
> ground,rolling around for a couple of seconds. Then the crow left, leaving 
> the hawk calmly sitting by itself up in a tree.
>
> The thing that surprised me the most about this encounter was that the 
> Cooper's and the crows seemed very calm when they weren't interacting. And 
> when one crow was playing "tag", the others acted as if nothing unusual was 
> going on.
>
> It was a fun encounter. :-)
>
> Bernie Sloan
> Milwaukee
>
>
>
>
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