Monday, March 30, 2009

Make no Bones About it

I love bird photography. I take all kinds of pictures but my favorites are when they are so engrossed in a task that they don't mind my presence. This is when instinct takes over fear and they go about their task as if I am not even there.


A perfect example of this are these pictures of the Common Crow. This reminds us that they are indeed scavengers. It is something I sometimes forget because I am so used to seeing them eat bread, dog kibble and corn.

Here is one eating some kind of bone. I am not sure if it was a bone of an animal recently killed or someones leftover fried chicken that somehow made it to the area they decided to dine at. Notice it looking at me as it holds the bone in its claw.

They use them just the same as the ever familiar chickadee does when it opens a seed.


There was no sentry perched on a tree to watch for predators so the crow would often scan the horizon in search for hawks or owls.


Soon another joined in for a romantic dinner for two.


Here is the perfect example of the scavenger in the crow. It looks as if it is trying to get the bone marrow or any trace of meat that may be leftover.


Finally it decides to put the bone back down and try it at a different angle.

Finally they had their fill and headed home to roost. Just as I was about to leave a Coopers Hawk glided by reminding me how remarkable nature is. The bird gets that bug the raptor gets the bird and the scavenger gets the rest. It is indeed the circle of life.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cute pictures - these birds are almost comical, aren't they?

A Scattering said...

Great sequence!

There were two crows eating squirrel road-kill on the street in front of my ofice today. Their dinner was constantly interrupted by traffic but they stuck with it. Persistent little devils, aren't they?!

nina at Nature Remains. said...

I like series like this--and you can learn so much by staying and taking it all in.
I love it when circumstances allow us to step into their world!

Marites said...

that's a neat little story about crows. I do forget that they are really scavengers because i find them cute:)

Shelley said...

They are so interesting to watch and you got some great photos of them in action and really working hard on their food!

Kelly said...

What a cool post!!! You were definitely in the right place at the right time.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

We all have these crows, don't we??? And most of us don't pay much attention to them... I'm the same way with Robins. We have so many of them --that I don't even notice. Poor Birds!!!!

Love your pictures of the Crows and your story!!!
Hugs,
Betsy

Jayne said...

They are so funny to watch sometimes. They truly do find opportunity wherever they can!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful post. Crows are very intelligent, at time too much so.

ShySongbird said...

Great series of photos, I saw one trying to eat something dead on the road the other day and wondered how long it would be before the poor thing ended up in the same position as it's meal!

Mary said...

Laughed at the "romantic dinner for two" comment! Those are great photos showing their nature behavior.

Anonymous said...

I like how they did not stop what they were doing when they saw you! Sometimes when I see a crow, it reminds me of the HBO show Six Feet Under. When Nate turned 40 (and would soon die) he kept seeing crows everywhere. They were suppose to be the symbol of death.

I posted a photo of hawks instead of crows today :) HSA

Anonymous said...

I guess the crows and hawks are my favorite birds. Both are as smart as whips.

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