Our postie stopped at the letter box on Friday morning and told me she’d just seen a “crow” prising a squashed baby bird off the bitumen.
“It was ghastly,” she said, “I nearly up-chucked my Weet-Bix.”
I stepped back in compliance with COVID19 distancing rules and explained that the “crow” was in fact an Australian Raven while she pointed to a small object on the road
20 metres away and resumed her mail run, Weet-Bix still on board.
I inspected the remains and identified them as being those of a fledgling Crested Pigeon. I returned to the house and five minutes later noticed that the raven was back
tugging at the carcass, pulling it clear of the road surface and flying away with it. This is the fifth dead C. P. chick I’ve found in our area during the last three weeks, often after heavy showers.
Curious to learn about fatalities among these youngsters I turned to HANZAB Vol 3 p. 909 viz, ...
when 14- 19 days old, young begin to sit on twigs near nest during day and return to nest at night; do this for 3-4 days then leave nest tree; spend next few days on ground, under shelter of dense growth. Young may roost on nest at night after fledging
Presumably, during these early stages they are quite vulnerable to predation, inclement weather and, if disturbed from shelter of dense growth, could move onto a nearby street with fatal consequences.
Nonetheless, the species appears to be doing very well in our area since I first noticed they were becoming common c. 1990.
John Layton
Holt.