Mobbing
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Feb 21, 2009 | by Adrian Binns
Raucous American Crows can still be found in roving flocks in my neighborhood. Sometimes they number as many as twenty, but todays group consisted of about half a dozen individuals. Crows are naturally gregarious and breed in colonies known as rookeries. Roaming about together in winter makes it easier for them to locate food sources and spot potential danger.
A Red-tailed Hawk was actively searching for an unsuspecting squirrel moving about from tree to tree. In one instance, as soon as he perched, two or three crows flew in and began calling to summon more troops. Their heads were bobbing, they made as much noise as they could and would even dive bomb the hawk.
Though many birds inhabit overlapping territories in a small geographical area, the crows are making sure that a predator such as this raptor is totally unwelcome by making him feel uncomfortable and driving him away. This anti-predator behavior, when they act co-operatively to harass it, is known as mobbing. Mobbing seems to have evolved amongst species that have their young preyed upon.
Though it may seem like a high risk strategy for an individual to take on a larger stronger predator, being amongst a group, the risk for an individual is small, and by co-operating it increases their chances of survival. It also may act as a status amongst the group to show who is a better potential mate.