birds harrassing crows…

Not that this is the first time this has ever happened, of course, but…

as I was headed to work today, I was watching a crow fly towards me from central park. Suddenly, it squawked and basically went into a tumble towards the ground. As I was trying to figure out what had happened to the crow, I realized there was this tiny thing following it down.

Yup. the crow had been bit by a hummingbird. It evidently didn’t see it coming, and the hummer scared/suprised the hell out of it. The crow ended up dropping about 15′, then regained flight, at which point I heard the hummer make a noise, and it flew off at top speed for the closest tree, with the crow in full chase. The crow made enough noise four friends joined it for the fun.

Now, this is the wrong time of year for nest protection, even for a hummer. And the crow wasn’t anywhere near a tree that might have had a nest. The crow was a good 50 feet in the air, and 50 feet from any tree. It seemed to me that the hummer dropped down from above, given the crow’s reaction.

That’s one heck of a territorial hummer — or just one with no sense of danger and a wry sense of humor. At it’s size, I’m not sure I want to thumb my nose at four or five crows.

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