Crows!

[julian]

I met some crows today.

More accurately, I was heading to take a walk on the Ten Mile River Greenway, which is a bike/walking trail about 6 miles from my house, and as I was pulling onto a side street, I noticed a bunch of them over in the plaza nearby.

So I stopped by, and it turned out there were like, 30 of them. Mix of Fish Crows and American Crows. (Fish Crows are smaller, and sound more nasal.)

Because I look for both blue jays and crows, I keep a bag of peanuts in my car, so I was supplied to bribe make friends with them. (In theory, at least, non-mated crows roost communally, and sometimes travel a bunch (up to 60 kilometers), so it's not inconceivable I could meet some of these folks again.)










As I was parking for the actual walk, I met several killdeer, which I have never seen in the area before. It's a shorebird, and I don't think of them as being an inland bunch, but they do hang out on lawns and other such areas. This was on the lawn of a manufacturing business, and Providence, which is where I technically was, is sort of on the ocean. Still -- felt weird!



On my walk, I saw my first Osprey of spring (they migrate down to Mexico in the winter), a few ducks and Mute Swans, and the requisite Red-Winged Blackbirds and Grackles.

Comments

[jadelennox]

FWIW I have heard a killdeer on the school playground in Arlington, which is a good six miles from anywhere I'd call coastal, although maybe all the road salt in the brook (or, more likely, the tidal river) confuses them.

Anyway, that's a good haul. I've been guaranteed to never see crows when I remember my peanuts, and see them frequently when I forget the peanuts.

[pameladean]

Such sleek crows!

I've seen killdeer in so many weird places; they seem to like gravelled spaces and mown grass. There was usually a lake, pond, or river nearby, but they aren't urban birds at all, they were all in little towns, so it seemed so strange to see them streaking down a driveway or trundling around the planted area of a roundabout.

P.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> so it's not inconceivable I could meet some of these folks again.) <<

Well if you do, they'll probably remember the Peanut Human.

>>It's a shorebird, and I don't think of them as being an inland bunch, but they do hang out on lawns and other such areas. <<

We have them here. It's reclaimed (if often disputed) prairie marsh now used as farmland, and the only water nearby is usually the drainage ditches. But killdeer everywhere. They found some other way to get by.

[sparowe]

Peanuts! I shall have to remember to do that. :)

[julian]

Ohhhh yeah. They love 'em. (They're also attracted by, say, dead meat, but for us humans, peanuts are a) easier, and b) cheaper.)

[rain_gryphon]

Oh, I love crows!

There are killdeer all over Indiana, nesting in the cornfields and pastures. I'm sure they once were a shorebird, but they've become more general, it seems.

[topaz_eyes]

Killdeer are a protected bird in Canada, which means you need the federal government's permission to move a killdeer nest if it's in an unsafe area. One day my husband and oldest drove into a gravel parking lot at work and noted a killdeer hopping around doing its "I broke my wing in the war" distraction display. Sure enough, they found a nest with eggs on the gravel. They set up warning pylons, called it in (they worked at a federal workplace), and workers came out to erect a barricade around the nest area until the babies fledged and left.

[devon]

Killdeer was one of the first birds I learned about as a kid. my parents got me a book that showed how they protect their nests and everything! great illustrations. they are apparently all over Michigan, which has a lot of wetlands. I didn't realize how common they are here or that they're protected in Canada! thanks for all the comments from folks. :D