I saw a strange sight yesterday.
A flock of about 20 Sulphur-crested Cockatoos was feeding on the ground near
where I
work in the city of Canberra. An Australian Raven (I call them crows: 'The
Crow and
the Cockatoo' sounds better than 'The Raven and the Cockatoo') walked or rather
waddled
slowly into the flock, feeding (probing the ground with its bill) as it went.
The
cockies ignored it and it ignored the cockies, even though they were as close
as one
or two metres apart.
The crow then did something remarkable. It was behind a cocky, less than a
metre away.
It took a few rapid steps forward and grabbed one of the cocky's large, central
tail
feathers in its bill. It hung on while the poor cocky flapped its wings,
hopping up and
down, calling loudly, obviously trying to get away. The crow stood its ground,
firmly
attached to the end of the cocky. The result: the cocky got away, leaving the
crow
with a feather in its bill and (presumably) the cocky with a sore bum! It flew
about
two metres to a post, perched on it and screeched loudly! The crow spat out
(oops, I
mean dropped) the feather and resumed feeding on whatever it was after in the
soil. The
other cockies ignored this altercation.
What, pray, was going on?
* The crow could not have seen the cocky as a source of food.
* There could not have been any competition between the two species for food
or
territory or other breeding resources.
* Perhaps it was simply play/inquisitiveness on the part of the crow (what
does it
feel like to pull a tail feather out of a feeding cocky, it may have
wondered?).
Any suggestions?
David
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David McDonald Voice: +61-6-231 8904 (home)
PO Box 1355 Voice: +61-6-260 9231 (work)
WODEN ACT 2606 Facsimile: +61-6-260 9201 (work)
AUSTRALIA E-mail: (home)
E-mail: (work)
"Things are more like they used to be than they were before"
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