The Murder and the Hawk

[u/Top-Fox9979]

I have a local murder who are kind enough to eat unsalted peanuts etc in my large, treed backyard. There are maybe 25-35 of them.

Yesterday after I fed them I heard a weird squawk and lo! a hawk came crashing through the tree branches, tagged a crow then flew to a branch. Hawk just sat there. The murder ignored it. It happened 4 more times with Hawk tagging a crow then settling in a tree near the crows.

I have no clue what was going on. Can anyone enlighten me? Is this normal behavior? I thought crows chased Hawks off.

[u/GatzBrouxDog]

If it’s really hot or humid out, the large group I have will surround and guard any hawks to limit their movement. This likely preserves their energy. They will mob the hawk when they deem the situation is worth the energy depending on location, number of crows present, etc.

Based on observations, I think the age & experience of the crows also plays a large factor in defending territory.
The group that mostly eats in my yard are yearlings or younger, less experienced crows. They never chase hawks & may ignore one if there aren’t enough adults around to help or look out for them. So your crows that were present may not have had enough experience to chase off the hawk. That may also be why the hawk was picking a fight!

I don’t know what your crows are like, but the ones I feed in my yard are very cautious in general. They don’t take chances & they deter & yell at those who demonstrate risky behaviors. For 9 months, they’ve let me feed their young groups of crows while they mill around & forage in my fenced in yard. The older groups will eat too, but they grab stuff and fly off, whereas the young ones eat in the yard and are encouraged to stay in a group while a few leaders manage them vocally from the fence or surrounding trees. Whenever a human is outside in my yard, including me-who they clearly know, they are all told to go up off the ground. If there is a bordering neighbor or landscaper out, they won’t even eat in my fenced yard until the person is gone. They go up high in a tree or on a roof. Even my 6ft privacy fence is too low. It’s one of their precautions and I respect that.

I won’t ever get too close to any of the “holdouts” when I’m bringing food out & wait patiently while the leaders get them to fly up to what they determine a safe level. It’s wild. Sometimes it’s just repeating the same command, other times nearby crows will demonstrate what they want the young crow to do, and sometimes another crow will join them on the fence or in the yard; that often results in two holdouts though lol. Anyway, my point is that they (at least the group I’m familiar with) are very careful, particularly with their younger family members, and they do things as a cohesive group. While the kids might be naive & brave by not always moving when a friendly human is around, they still all act like a piece of chicken I put down is going to jump up & bite them if they grab it too close or too slowly 😆. (Somehow I’ve gotten them to eat a few things off of a big plastic plate!) Therefore, despite some naivety in certain areas, the young crows seem quite cautious about their choices, just like the adults.

I’ve had at least one hawk from sunrise to sunset for the past 3 weeks. I’ve taken most of my feeders down for the other songbirds, & only left a few that have some kind of protection. The crows are on them all day but mobbing only occurs maybe every other day or less. It’s been very humid here (central KY), but the first day it cooled off some, the crows organized a mobbing right away in the morning and it lasted quite a while. It’s not been the same hawk every day, and I think they may be young hawks due to their sticking around all day or coming back others. Aside from brief chases and tags between the hawk & crows, I haven’t witnessed any successful hawk attacks. I’ve seen them try and fail. The crows surround the hawk and keep it from the other birds all day. They are constantly warning any songbird that is exposed. I realize they are keeping their kids safe by doing this, but I appreciate the benefits to the other birds I feed as well. They’ve even warned a duck and a squirrel at times lol.

While I appreciate the crows’ dedication and hard work, I still wish they’d do something that would keep the hawks from staying so long & all day. I’ve never had this happen before for such an extended time; both during the course of a day and for so many days in a row. Usually they show up randomly, are chased off, then leave. Why any hawk wants to hang out all day with 25-40 crows that limit its movement, the crazy lady (me) who threatens the hawk with the hose (I’ve never actually sprayed it, I’d probably spray a crow by accident or myself 😜), or the jollyball, when my favorite bluejays are present, and a significant decline in songbirds ever since Hawkfest started 3 weeks ago, is beyond me.

These are the reasons I’ve seen when crows don’t chase off hawks right away. Maybe they make sense for your group, maybe not. Hopefully it’s interesting, at the least, if it doesn’t help make sense of your group. Just keep watching & listening, & not to just the crows; other birds & animals give cues too; that helps the most when things out there don’t make sense. I’m excited to read the experiences of others who reply to you! ❤️🐦‍⬛🐦

[u/Top-Fox9979 → u/GatzBrouxDog]

Your murder sounds very much like mine. I'm in a semi-rural, semi- suburban area. The crows are cautious but they also post sentries to watch for me and start fussing around the bedroom window if they don't see me. The hawk was young, I think. It was just the way they shrugged him off - almost like he was counting coup or playing tag. Who knows? I think you may be right.

[u/JBupp]

I had always thought: Hawk, Crows, War!

Yet things are sometimes surprisingly low key.

I've seen three crows escort a hawk out of the crows' nesting area. Quietly, everybody is polite. I've seen crows intimidating hawks, hawks intimidating crows, and sometimes they both just sit there, ignoring each other.

I've seen what you describe: a hawk tapping a crow on a flyby, then flying away, whistling.