Furore

[nightshade]

My wife called me to the window this morning (early) and on the rooftop opposite sat
a Sparrowhawk ,literally surrounded by Crows,Magpies and various other birds
then at some invisible signal,the larger birds first, the whole mob attacked the
Sparrowhawk which disappeared under a flurry of wings and beaks,after a few seconds it burst out of the melee and winged it followed closely by the Crows
It flew around twisting and jinking apparently very reluctant to leave the area but was eventually seen off.
I have often seen birds being mobbed but nothing to match the concerted fury of this one and the reluctance of the Sparrowhawk to leave

[May]

My goodness! Gang warfare, eh?

I have noticed though, that once crows get an idea in their head, they won't let up.
Crows nest in the oaks in the field our house backs on to and during nesting season Buzzards would often be spotted doing the rounds. We saw one Buzzard looking for a thermal and a lone crow was buzzing it .. it was not giving up till this threat was gone.

[Matra Man]

This year, we've been observing a White-tailed Eagle nest in an enormous tree near some large fishing lakes here in Hungary.

The nest, situated in the centre of the tree, was also enormous, but in the very top of the same tree was a Hooded Crow nest. Every time the adult Eagles took to the air, they were dive-bombed by the Crows.

It must have been sooooo irritating for the Eagles as they couldn't go for a quick fly round without being harrassed. The size difference was incredible. The crows are a reasonable size, but were dwarfed by the Eagles with their rectangular, barn-door wings. It looked like a battle scene from WW2 with a Lancaster bomber being buzzed by two Messerschmidt 109's !

As the crow beaks made contact with the backs of the eagles, the latter would make drastic turning movements in a bid to "slap" their attackers with those large wings. Somehow, the eagles managed to rear one youngster despite the aggravation !

Colin.

[Paul mabbott]

Yes, crows are very determined. No eagles around here but we do have herons roosting in the wood and they are regularly mobbed by crows (magpies seem to ignore them) - despite their size the herons always fly off as quickly as possible.

Originally Posted by Matra Man

It must have been sooooo irritating for the Eagles as they couldn't go for a quick fly round without being harrassed. The size difference was incredible. The crows are a reasonable size, but were dwarfed by the Eagles with their rectangular, barn-door wings. It looked like a battle scene from WW2 with a Lancaster bomber being buzzed by two Messerschmidt 109's ! As the crow beaks made contact with the backs of the eagles, the latter would make drastic turning movements in a bid to "slap" their attackers with those large wings. Somehow, the eagles managed to rear one youngster despite the aggravation !
Colin.

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

Yes, crows are very determined. No eagles around here but we do have herons roosting in the wood and they are regularly mobbed by crows (magpies seem to ignore them) - despite their size the herons always fly off as quickly as possible.

Strangely at our local reserve, the rooks, egrets and herons live in harmony and in the same trees. I suppose they've learned tolerance.

[Paul mabbott]

Ours are carrion crows, not rooks - might make a difference?

Originally Posted by Wild-Woman

Strangely at our local reserve, the rooks, egrets and herons live in harmony and in the same trees. I suppose they've learned tolerance.

[John]

I was lucky enough to be on the Scilly Isles when the Short-toed Eagle was found in Octber 1999. at the time I decided to let everyone else go chase after it as I thought I might do better staying where I was in the hope of it coming my way, which it did.

I have seen many of these birds abroad but I was so impressed with this bird that I wrote a story in diary format that contained nearly 6,000 words. It was written in both fact and fiction. The fact is what I was witnessing and the fiction was of me potraying the same scenes through the eagles eyes. I actually gave the eagle a name "Hedden"

Part of that story is when the eagle was mobbed and I have copied and pasted what I had written about it. It is only a very small part of the whole story of the few days the Eagle was there.

This first part is through my eyes as I witnessed it.

"4:15pm
I was still on my own and thought I had made the wrong decision in staying here for the bird. The pager bleeped. The bird had turned and was now flying towards me. I held my breath, watching for any tell tale movements over the far ridge, and willing the bird to head north. As I watched a flock of gulls, together with a couple of Ravens, took flight from St Martins.

4:20pm
Masses of gulls, together with two Ravens, were mobbing another bird.
“Could it be,” I thought.
I scanned the birds with my scope, setting the zoom lens onto 60x mag. The density of the birds making it impossible to pick out clearly, the bird they were attacking. One bird eventually dropped away from the swirling mass. The other birds were forcing it down and I managed to line up my scope onto it. It appeared to be heading towards some rocks. The Ravens and gulls were not letting up on their attacks but the bird managed to land on a small rock and in the brief respite, that followed its landing, I managed a good look at him. It was the Eagle. I had found him. What a feeling, what a bird. As I started to phone the pager company, to announce the Eagle’s whereabouts, the gulls resumed their attacks on it.

This part is through Heddens eyes.

4:25pm
Hedden felt insecure. He wasn’t safe here. The Ravens renewed their vicious attacks on him spurring on further, frenzied, attacks by the gulls. Realising that he had to flee this island, for his safety, he took flight and the first Raven came at him. Hedden turned and flashed out his talons, narrowly missing the Raven. It screeched, with alarm, but still turned to hit home another attack. The second Raven came from another angle. The gulls held back, as if just spectators to a great battle. Hedden was fighting for his life, turning first one way then the other, always with his talons leading the way. The Ravens were backing off now, keeping their distance, as too were the gulls. He was a threat to them and was fighting back. Space was created between the Eagle and the Ravens and gulls as respect for this new bird gathered pace amongst his attackers.

Hedden rose quickly skywards causing panic and confusion amongst the following birds.

There is obviously more but that is another part of the story.

John

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

Ours are carrion crows, not rooks - might make a difference?

Could be. They don't tend to strut around importantly like carrions.

[wildfire]

I've a friend who was actually attacked by crows when she was about three. Suffice to say she's not too fond of the lovely creatures any more! I thought she was just being over dramatic though it sound like they can be quite aggressive!

maria

[cherrybee]

Originally Posted by John

I was lucky enough to be on the Scilly Isles when the Short-toed Eagle was found in Octber 1999. at the time I decided to let everyone else go chase after it as I thought I might do better st



This part is through Heddens eyes.

4:25pm
Hedden felt insecure. He wasn’t safe here. The Ravens renewed their vicious attacks on him spurring on further, frenzied, attacks by the gulls. Realising that he had to flee this island, for his safety, he took flight and the first Raven came at him. Hedden turned and flashed out his talons, narrowly missing the Raven. It screeched, with alarm, but still turned to hit home another attack. The second Raven came from another angle. The gulls held back, as if just spectators to a great battle. Hedden was fighting for his life, turning first one way then the other, always with his talons leading the way. The Ravens were backing off now, keeping their distance, as too were the gulls. He was a threat to them and was fighting back. Space was created between the Eagle and the Ravens and gulls as respect for this new bird gathered pace amongst his attackers.

Hedden rose quickly skywards causing panic and confusion amongst the following birds.

There is obviously more but that is another part of the story.

John

Oh wow John that was a wonderful story through the eyes of the eagle I loved it make me want more

[Susie]

I once saw a group of crows literally pecking another crow to death - it was the most horrific thing to watch and there was nothing I could do to help it. On another occasion a group of crows mobbed a heron. The heron became tangled in some wire and again the crows attacked the defenseless creature until it hung lifeless by its trapped leg.

I know that it's all just part of nature but crows aren't my favourite creature.

[nightshade]

The sparrowhawk landed in the garden earlier,its intended victim was a greenfinch
which hit the patio door and broke its neck,it sat on the fence watching until
the local crows chased it around the gardens again

[edge1255]

At my local patch (Baron's Haugh RSPB reserve) I've watched a pair of sparrowhawks being mobbed by 7 magpies. The magpies just didn't give up until the sparrowhawks were sent packing. This happened this month, so there were no nesting birds involved. Seemed to come out of the blue.

Jon