Raptors chased by Crows

I live on one of the small inlets of Puget Sound and frequently observe crows chasing and harassing Bald Eagles while the eagle is cruising for fish above the inlet. It is usually a single crow flying very close to and even trying to bite the eagle although I have occasionally seen more than one crow gang up on an eagle. The eagle doesn't seem to fight back but does eventually lose the crow.

Last week, I saw a crow take on 2 Osprey. Here is an image. The Osprey are at least 800 meters above the inlet, circling on the updrafts, looking for fish.

Does anyone know why the crows go after the raptors (and not the herons)?

iso 320, 4000th sec, f7.1, 500mm plus 1.4X, 10% or less of original frame

In my area I usually see the blackbirds going after the crows, who go after the ravens, who go after the red-tails. :)

The herons get a pass, I would guess, because they don't hunt in the same way. A heron isn't going to find and eat a raven's young. A red-tail will happily do so. Ospreys hunt by soaring, too, so they get chased. You can tell if a raven is chasing a red-tail without even looking up, just by listening to the raven.

It's called mobbing. Mockingbirds mob crows. Crows mob hawks. I believe it is an instinctual behavior in reaction to a predator of their young.

David

The top bird is definitely as Osprey, but the lower raptor's head & chest seem to be the wrong color for an Osprey and the tail doesn't look right either. Do you have any additional images of these three birds together?

There is another reason why I ask that, the "crow's" eye color is wrong, I've never seen a crow with yellowish eyes. It may be that the membrane is over the eye, but I am curious.

If it's any consolation, the bones of crows and ravens have been found in the nests of our local Red-tailed Hawks. Sometimes the raptor wins.

Last weekend, Nancy and I watched two Golden Eagles being mobbed. In one case, by a pair of Merlins; in the second case by a Gyrfalcon, who thought nothing of climbing 200 feet above the eagle, going into full tuck and stooping on the eagle at 100+ miles per hour. So raptors do it to each other, too.

Crows and Ravens do not like most, if not all, birds of prey. My usual method of locating Great Horned Owls, or other raptors nearby, in the winter is "Listen for the crows". In some cases that I have seen, the mobbing of crows on GH Owls have actually caused the Owls to abandon their nests. However, this attacking of raptors is not strictly for crows and ravens only. Red-winged blackbirds will also go after raptors and even crows when guarding their nests. Actually, these little kamakaze birds will go after anything they feel is too close to their nest. I have seen blackbirds attack Herons, even mild-mannered Canada Geese, and humans. I have been tagged on the head a few times by blackbirds. They are afraid of nothing. The next time you are walking through a forest and you here a group of crows screaming profoundly, check out where it's coming from and you will most likely find an Owl or another raptor nearby.

They mob ospreys most likely to get them to drop their fish, they almost always are carrying a piece of fish usually the body or tail since they eat fish from the head to the tail. I am sure the lower bird isn't an osprey, could be a red-tail. Anyway interesting picture.
Probably they mob other raptors since they are a threat.

We had a mating pair of red shouldered hawks nest on our property. There was always a hawk on the nest. I think he/she just finally got sick and tired of chasing crows away from her nest and abandoned it.

I am now officially anti-crow! I love my beautiful hawks....they keep my pastures "clean" of mice and snakes! Fortunately, they nested somewhere else in their territory, so the crows did not run them off far. But, I was really waiting for the opportunity to watch and photograph their babies!!!......

David - Nice action capture! I love seeing different species interacting.

Lucy - The crows are just acting the way they are genetically programmed to act ... it's a part of nature. They are either protecting their babies or trying to get food. Every species has aspects that we can appreciate, and others we don't understand, but I hate to hear a nature photographer say they dislike a certain species. Every creature is just trying to survive in a tough world made even tougher by humans. As a wildlife rehabber, I often hear comments from the public about how "mean" raccoons are, or how "ugly" opossums are, and I guess I feel I have to defend them. I'll get off my soapbox now.
Michele

BTW - A great book about crows is "Crow Planet." It is very enlightening.