Crows

Method is more important than strength, when you wish to control your enemies. By dropping golden beads near a snake, a crow once managed to have a passer-by kill the snake for the beads. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Crows enjoying a dead tree.

One of the aspects I enjoy about Olympia is its vast crow population. I have always been a fan of the Corvid or Crow Family because of their aesthetic qualities and their savviness towards the world at large. Plus, they are just highly entertaining creatures to observe. We have been walking in what we call "Crow Park" which is really the newly developed southern 10 acres of Yauger Park.  This new area is the Stormwater Expansion that serves as a "Green Infrastructure" that includes a water quality treatment wetland, bio-retention ponds, a 5,000 square foot rain garden and bio-filtration swales. So not only is this place a really wonderful on an environmental level, it is a great place to hang out with crows.  The park has many dead trees that are a social gathering place for a tribe of about 50 plus crows. 

Pond reflections at Yauger Park.

 

Rocks to hop on at Yauger Park.

Sunset over Yauger Park.

My partner and I have taken to "crow feeding" as a Sunday afternoon activity. All week long we save up savory tidbits to entice our feathered friends. Crows are omnivores so they will eat just about anything but they can be picky.  This weekend they turned their beaks up at ham steak but went crazy for a chicken carcass and a bag of potato chips. Often, more excitement happens when some pushy seagulls appear out of nowhere and attempt to steal the crow treats.  Usually the crows are extremely cautious birds. When food is placed on the ground they spend a lot of time discussing it and eyeing it but not picking it up.  Everyone will wait for one brave soul to fly down and snatch a succulent morsel and then everybody else will follow (but only on that same spot). Its like the game of "hot lava" where you can only step in tested places. An untested place is dangerous and therefore to be avoided until someone desperate (or stupid) enough is willing to risk it.

This is not so when food must be defended from seagulls. Caution goes out the window and a precise, fearless and highly organized teamwork ensues. I watched a group of crows work together to collectively sit on the food to hide it from the gulls while another group body checked the gulls to knock them away from the food and yet another group worked to lure them away completely from the site. Unfortunately (for the crows) these tactics often fail. Seagulls are extremely single-minded and tenacious-- we watched the last battle turn into a struggle of strength and focus against cleverness and cooperation. This time our team did not win as the seagulls made off with a large share of the chicken. But I have faith in those sleek, inky birds and am going to lay bets that by next weekend they will have figured out a winning strategy.