STRANGE FRIENDSHIP
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 2:28 pm
Strange Friendship
Last summer just before the floods hit Ipswich I rescued two crows that had fallen from their nest 30 feet up in a big Cocos palm – one of three in my garden. I don’t like crows, but these were babies, quite big and fully fledged able to flutter but not fly. I think they were so big and heavy that the nest just gave out on them. Sadly I suspect part of their diet had been the fledgling chicks from my Superb wrens - but nature is like that.
At the time I thought there was only one crow chick, I saw the girls chase it and fearful they would get eye pecked yelled at them to leave it, which they did but they had cornered it up against the fence. They were not though showing any aggression towards it. They had taken up more of a guarding stance waiting for me to get to it. Meanwhile the two parent birds were sitting overhead screaming bloody murder.
Throwing a towel over it I managed after a bit of chasing to catch it. It was healthy and nothing broken, so locking the two girls under the house I went across the road to borrow a neighbours old cocky cage. He feeds the butcher birds and magpies and suggested I leave it with him and hopefully the parents would come back and feed it. We decided it just needed a little R and R time to recover. So we gave it some water, dribbling it into its beak and found a sheltered shady spot under a tree out of reach of cats and left it in the cage there. All was well
That had wasted about 30 minutes so back home I go to let the girls out only to find that unbeknownst to me a second crow fledgling had got under the house and once again the girls had him cornered but weren’t showing the slightest bit of aggression towards him, more puzzled by his incessant calling.. Repeat of action one and now two crows in a fairly large cage.
Cut to the chase – three days later we released them as the parents were hanging around and the two chicks were definitely stronger and over their initial fright. We placed them high up in a tree and their flying lessons must have been eventually successful although we rescued them again twice before away they went. They were used to being picked up by now and never pecked and I just put leather gloves on and put them back in the tree. As before no aggression from the two dogs, just the Border Collie herding instinct kicking in each time. Without the dogs I doubt I would have been able to capture them - but each time they fell to the ground Mahalia would herd them over to the fence and hold them there,
Over the past year these two crows have popped in now and again to say g’day, and yesterday and today were back in full force playing with the girls. How do I know it is the same two crows??? Instinct tells me it is…..actually three crows have come to visit today but only two are playing. I think the third one might be the boy crows new mate. They possible came back to nest in their old palm tree, but I have had them removed and the Jacaranda and Poinciana tree are too airy fairy for their liking.
They sit and call and call until the girls charge downstairs into the yard and then the games begin. They swoop to the clothes line with the girls in hot pursuit and then back to the tree. The girls jumping and grinning beneath them. Then they do a low level bombing run just out of reach, and the two dogs run like crazy across the yard after them. This goes on for about 20 minutes until eventually the dogs are worn out and come inside. The crows sit on the clothesline making disconsolate noises, not worried by me taking their piccies and talking to them. Eventually with a few more loud cark, cark noises they fly away….but they’ll be back.
A strange friendship, but they know they won’t be harmed here and I think it is wonderful that they recognize the dogs and me as friendly faces.
But I still don’t like crows. Just make an exception for these two.
Maureen
Last summer just before the floods hit Ipswich I rescued two crows that had fallen from their nest 30 feet up in a big Cocos palm – one of three in my garden. I don’t like crows, but these were babies, quite big and fully fledged able to flutter but not fly. I think they were so big and heavy that the nest just gave out on them. Sadly I suspect part of their diet had been the fledgling chicks from my Superb wrens - but nature is like that.
At the time I thought there was only one crow chick, I saw the girls chase it and fearful they would get eye pecked yelled at them to leave it, which they did but they had cornered it up against the fence. They were not though showing any aggression towards it. They had taken up more of a guarding stance waiting for me to get to it. Meanwhile the two parent birds were sitting overhead screaming bloody murder.
Throwing a towel over it I managed after a bit of chasing to catch it. It was healthy and nothing broken, so locking the two girls under the house I went across the road to borrow a neighbours old cocky cage. He feeds the butcher birds and magpies and suggested I leave it with him and hopefully the parents would come back and feed it. We decided it just needed a little R and R time to recover. So we gave it some water, dribbling it into its beak and found a sheltered shady spot under a tree out of reach of cats and left it in the cage there. All was well
That had wasted about 30 minutes so back home I go to let the girls out only to find that unbeknownst to me a second crow fledgling had got under the house and once again the girls had him cornered but weren’t showing the slightest bit of aggression towards him, more puzzled by his incessant calling.. Repeat of action one and now two crows in a fairly large cage.
Cut to the chase – three days later we released them as the parents were hanging around and the two chicks were definitely stronger and over their initial fright. We placed them high up in a tree and their flying lessons must have been eventually successful although we rescued them again twice before away they went. They were used to being picked up by now and never pecked and I just put leather gloves on and put them back in the tree. As before no aggression from the two dogs, just the Border Collie herding instinct kicking in each time. Without the dogs I doubt I would have been able to capture them - but each time they fell to the ground Mahalia would herd them over to the fence and hold them there,
Over the past year these two crows have popped in now and again to say g’day, and yesterday and today were back in full force playing with the girls. How do I know it is the same two crows??? Instinct tells me it is…..actually three crows have come to visit today but only two are playing. I think the third one might be the boy crows new mate. They possible came back to nest in their old palm tree, but I have had them removed and the Jacaranda and Poinciana tree are too airy fairy for their liking.
They sit and call and call until the girls charge downstairs into the yard and then the games begin. They swoop to the clothes line with the girls in hot pursuit and then back to the tree. The girls jumping and grinning beneath them. Then they do a low level bombing run just out of reach, and the two dogs run like crazy across the yard after them. This goes on for about 20 minutes until eventually the dogs are worn out and come inside. The crows sit on the clothesline making disconsolate noises, not worried by me taking their piccies and talking to them. Eventually with a few more loud cark, cark noises they fly away….but they’ll be back.
A strange friendship, but they know they won’t be harmed here and I think it is wonderful that they recognize the dogs and me as friendly faces.
But I still don’t like crows. Just make an exception for these two.
Maureen
