Monday 8 August 2016

Crows

A few days ago DZ was driving along a motorway in a rural area. The road was quiet and up ahead I noticed a small group of crows engaged in a motorway banquet, feasting on some unfortunate creature that had probably had too close an encounter with some vehicle. Just then I was overtaken by a motorcycle going at some speed.



 As he sped along the road the crows began to scatter and take off, but one was a bit slower than the rest and the biker struck him knocking him to the side of the road in a flurry of feathers. The biker wasn't in any way affected, but the crow was certainly killed instantly.
Google search will confirm the widely held notion of the "sentry crow". One crow that acts as a look out for the others preoccupied as they are with eating. He calls a warning of approaching danger.



 So why did he not warn his mates in time?  Perhaps he was just not used to vehicles doing that sort of speed. I mentioned this to a biker friend who confirmed that crows often fall victim to bikers, and he explained to me the reason.

Apparently the sentry crow, like all crows is perfectly able to say "car", but unfortunately none of them can say "motorbike"

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