It's crow season
I was waiting at the bus stop today, and as I approached it, a large crow was on the sidewalk. He had a prize. I walked slower and toned down my body language and he surprisingly let me pass without flight or fleeing. That was unusual. They really never do that. Even the seasoned city crows.
His treat was a Dick's Drive-In paper cup with plastic lid. It once contained a strawberry shake, which was on the sidewalk near it. The crow was eagerly sucking up blobs of the congealed remains before starting on the cup.
After the sidewalk was clean (and he did dart for other pedestrians, but only as absolutely minimally as he had to. He was really really interested in the cup. He'd only hop a half dozen steps out of the way when people would walk on the sidewalk) he began to examine the cup. Through the semi-transparent lid, he could see there was more pink residue inside. The cup was on its side, and he'd scrunch down and look in there and walk around the cup. He then came to the end of it, and grabbed the bottom lip of the cup and pulled it upwards to overturn the cup on the sidewalk. He studied his work for a few seconds, and then knocked the cup over again. Sure enough, through the straw hole (no straw in the cup) he got more strawberry shake. He gobbled that up and then had a sort of "aha!" gesture and leaned forward and plucked the plastic lid off the cup and set it aside. He then repeated the process of looking into the cup, but not sticking his head in, so he could naturally keep an eye on his surroundings. Once he was sure of what he saw, he then upended the cup again, and knocked it over and ate the last of the shake on the sidewalk.
While waiting for a bus later, across the street, two other crows were out looking for food. I really wish I had brought the bag of trail mix (I have it ready for next time I leave the house now) . The crows were walking with each other - probably more out of predatory interest than cooperation or socialization - and they saw me in the bus shelter. Then they did something I didn't expect.
They came over, and deliberately walked within a couple feet of me. They stopped and looked at me in a way I can only assume that meant they had been treated by humans with food before. The old pigeon trick (without the head bobbing, thank god...) of milling about smartly near the humans, because sometimes humans have food and will drop it or throw it to them, and by golly, that's good eatin'.
So the crows sized me up, and looked almost expectant or at least curious in their demeanor like "you got food you might want to drop or throw at us like we've experienced before so we can eat it?" and sadly, I didn't have any and I was surprised these crows were that brave. I've met some very aggressively social crows at the zoo, but nearly nowhere else to simply walk up within possible danger distance and check out the human. These two did.
I was alone at the stop, so I said hi to them, and they took that as an odd gesture and moved along. It seems to unsettle the crows when you speak to them. Even in a gentle voice.
This time of year is when they're out nesting and looking for food and whatnot, so I think the sightings and interaction will pick up. I'll be trying to provoke them if I can help it. Hopefully this'll have more regular interactions in the coming weeks as the crows are more active in the neighborhood.
His treat was a Dick's Drive-In paper cup with plastic lid. It once contained a strawberry shake, which was on the sidewalk near it. The crow was eagerly sucking up blobs of the congealed remains before starting on the cup.
After the sidewalk was clean (and he did dart for other pedestrians, but only as absolutely minimally as he had to. He was really really interested in the cup. He'd only hop a half dozen steps out of the way when people would walk on the sidewalk) he began to examine the cup. Through the semi-transparent lid, he could see there was more pink residue inside. The cup was on its side, and he'd scrunch down and look in there and walk around the cup. He then came to the end of it, and grabbed the bottom lip of the cup and pulled it upwards to overturn the cup on the sidewalk. He studied his work for a few seconds, and then knocked the cup over again. Sure enough, through the straw hole (no straw in the cup) he got more strawberry shake. He gobbled that up and then had a sort of "aha!" gesture and leaned forward and plucked the plastic lid off the cup and set it aside. He then repeated the process of looking into the cup, but not sticking his head in, so he could naturally keep an eye on his surroundings. Once he was sure of what he saw, he then upended the cup again, and knocked it over and ate the last of the shake on the sidewalk.
While waiting for a bus later, across the street, two other crows were out looking for food. I really wish I had brought the bag of trail mix (I have it ready for next time I leave the house now) . The crows were walking with each other - probably more out of predatory interest than cooperation or socialization - and they saw me in the bus shelter. Then they did something I didn't expect.
They came over, and deliberately walked within a couple feet of me. They stopped and looked at me in a way I can only assume that meant they had been treated by humans with food before. The old pigeon trick (without the head bobbing, thank god...) of milling about smartly near the humans, because sometimes humans have food and will drop it or throw it to them, and by golly, that's good eatin'.
So the crows sized me up, and looked almost expectant or at least curious in their demeanor like "you got food you might want to drop or throw at us like we've experienced before so we can eat it?" and sadly, I didn't have any and I was surprised these crows were that brave. I've met some very aggressively social crows at the zoo, but nearly nowhere else to simply walk up within possible danger distance and check out the human. These two did.
I was alone at the stop, so I said hi to them, and they took that as an odd gesture and moved along. It seems to unsettle the crows when you speak to them. Even in a gentle voice.
This time of year is when they're out nesting and looking for food and whatnot, so I think the sightings and interaction will pick up. I'll be trying to provoke them if I can help it. Hopefully this'll have more regular interactions in the coming weeks as the crows are more active in the neighborhood.