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CROWS!!!!!!!

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CROWS

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Apr 29, 2023Liked by Jack Mirkinson

CROWS!!!!!!

I love that we have two species of crows here on the east coast that are basically indistinguishable visually but have totally different calls. The American crow has the well-known "CAW!", as in the video above, while the fish crow sounds something like an American crow with a cold.

That leads to scenes like this morning when, while birding in Battery Park, I saw a crow fly into a tree. In hopes of identifying it, I (quietly) yelled "TELL ME WHO YOU ARE!" at it. It obliged, revealing itself as a fish crow. And then a second fish crow started calling back to it. Good times!

Also got my first of year gray catbird and possibly last of season brants this morning.

Anyway, here's a video of a fish crow calling with an entertaining in-video title: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98pLAMOwDUs

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I saw a few crows attacking an owl the other morning. It was not long after sunrise, I heard a disturbance up in the trees, and crows were taking turns divebombing an owl. The owl sort of flew away, disturbed but not too disturbed. It was very upsetting. The crow is a great bird, I respect their win, but owls are god-tier birds. You hate to see this kind of thing.

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