And the irony is the "murders" often form when (the crows fear that?) a crow is threatened... They don't go after prey in flocks; they group in response to THEIR predators, immediate or potential.
Anne On Jun 1, 2012, at 3:35 PM, Marie P Read wrote: > <Perhaps there is some logic behind it.> Hmmmmm... > > While I do love the old poetic terms for animal gatherings, I tend to agree > with Kevin. After all, many birds kill and eat other animals , so why crows > should be singled out as the only murderers in the bird world I don't know. > No-one seems to get bent out of shape when our noble Peregrine Falcon nails > some hapless shorebird. Or our charismatic Great Horned Owl nails a bunch of > baby Peregrines in their nest, come to think of it. How come THEY don't have > such nicknames. > > Marie > > > > Marie Read Wildlife Photography > 452 Ringwood Road > Freeville NY 13068 USA > > Phone 607-539-6608 > e-mail m...@cornell.edu > > http://www.marieread.com > > Now on FaceBook > https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marie-Read-Wildlife-Photography/104356136271727 > ________________________________________ > From: bounce-61033880-5851...@list.cornell.edu > [bounce-61033880-5851...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Kevin J. McGowan > [k...@cornell.edu] > Sent: Friday, June 01, 2012 2:43 PM > To: CAYUGABIRDS-L > Subject: RE: [cayugabirds-l] Mob of crow (or is it called death of crow?) > > It's a flock. "Murder" is an insulting term, poetic or not. > > Kevin > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: bounce-61033781-3493...@list.cornell.edu > [mailto:bounce-61033781-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of John Wobus > Sent: Friday, June 01, 2012 2:25 PM > To: CAYUGABIRDS-L > Cc: John Wobus > Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Mob of crow (or is it called death of crow?) > > Meena wrote: >> (or is it called death of crow?) > > "Murder of crows" is the old poetic phrase. > Perhaps there is some logic behind it. > > John > > -- > > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds > 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- > > -- > > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds > 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- > > > -- > > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds > 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- > -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
