West Seattle wildlife: Where to beware of crows

| Safety | West Seattle news | Wildlife

We’ve heard two reports now of a certain area on the west side of The Junction where the crows are feistier than usual right now. This one’s from Laura:

I live in the Genesee neighborhood. I was walking to work (Tuesday) morning, and was on the west side of the street on Glenn Way SW that cuts a diagonal path between Genesee and Alaska on my way to the bus at about 6:30 a.m. The street has a few really large trees on it.

Suddenly I hear a couple crows start cawing really loudly. Then, one swoops down high from a tree and right over my head. Then lots more cawing from the trees. Then another swoop close to my head. I scream and put my purse over my head and start running. Then a third swoop over my head, more cawing. Finally, I get beyond the big trees and it’s over. Assume it’s a nest they’re guarding, or they don’t like white jackets, or…. anyway, pretty alarming and thought maybe you’d want to alert readers to at least walk the opposite side of the street.

As usual with something like this, we searched online to look for expert advice to add to the reader report – and found this KING 5 report saying it’s “crow-attack season.” Lots of other crow-attack tales turn up online too, but as for practical advice and explanation – the state Fish and Wildlife Department wins again, with this “Living with Wildlife” page.

cj June 10, 2015 (10:15 am)

Its late baby bird in nest and learning to fly season. Also people who do not mind their pets let them go out and hunt for the chicks. I hear angry crows a lot but at the same I can usually from my balcony see some one’s cats or dogs hunting for chicks or young ones not yet good at flying.

Mike June 10, 2015 (10:26 am)

I had the same exact thing happen to me this morning at 49th and Stevens while waiting for the bus. The crow sat on the bus sign cawing at me and then made three swoops at my head, darting between a house and the sign. The crow cawed for about five minutes as I moved further down the street and then it flew off.

newnative June 10, 2015 (10:28 am)

Murder of Crows strongly males the case that crows only attack guilty parties. They remember faces and then spread the news, so to speak. I have been attacked in my own neighborhood, and a nearby one. I was even followed by a single crow for a mile downtown. Whatever they accused me of, it wasn’t me!

SJ2 June 10, 2015 (10:28 am)

They are protecting their babies who most likely can’t fly yet. We have had a pair nest in our backyard every year for the past 7 years. During this time we make sure not to let our dogs in the backyard. The crows have learned to trust us and let us take the trash out, etc… walking past the baby. Taking them the occasional treat, such as a few unsalted peanuts definitely helped earn their trust and allow us to walk past them during these times.

Lonnie June 10, 2015 (10:39 am)

After being attacked twice last year, I researched attacking crows. Crows are very territorial and from the end of May to approximately the first week July, they are protecting the newborns. Crows have an enormous memory so if you harass them, they will haunt you forever. College level experiments have confirmed this believe. The best avenue to travel especially during this period is to give them plenty of space between you and them. When you hear them making their extreme noises, look around and go around them if possible. Their method for attack is always behind your head. If you look into their eyes, seldom will they attack. Hope this helps.

WSB June 10, 2015 (11:00 am)

Thanks, Lonnie, for the research. We have long said hello to the crows who hang out in our neighborhood (home, years ago, of the legendary Leucy: https://westseattleblog.com/?p=19402 ) … maybe they’ll leave us alone as a result – TR

meow June 10, 2015 (10:39 am)

Caw caw!

Nancy Folsom June 10, 2015 (10:50 am)

Cool info! Thanks!

JOHN June 10, 2015 (10:52 am)

I had on actually bounce of my head in the junction with other people around. I have blonde hair so I was an easy target, I guess. I doubt if there were any babies around. My view of birds is that Crows are naturally aggressive and fearless and Gulls will eat anything.

John

scarednow June 10, 2015 (10:59 am)

Reading this made me think of the movie “The Birds”!!!

fran June 10, 2015 (11:01 am)

Yesterday afternoon on 40th SW we heard and saw about 50+ crows cawing and scrabbling around the top of a maple tree. They came from all over the neighborhood. Soon a Goshawk flew out of the tree with a baby bird in his beak crows in hot pursuit. Commented on the street. “That is some Block Watch.”

huh? June 10, 2015 (11:04 am)

“newnative”–Do you want to rewrite the first part of your post so it makes some sense and we can understand what you’re wanting to tell us?

Dan June 10, 2015 (11:08 am)

Ha I don’t know if it was an actual crow or not but Yesterday while I was running up and down those stairs near Hamilton Viewpoint Park. There was some type of bird following me from top to bottom. Whenever I ran up the bird flew up to the top on the telephone wire, when I ran down it would fly back down. Since the bird didn’t attack me it just kept screaming I assumed it wanted to be my personal trainer egging me on.

G June 10, 2015 (11:25 am)

Many years ago my elderly mother was walking to the Junction and an aggressive crow startled her causing to lose her balance and fall, injuring her knee. She was in bed for two weeks and needed round the clock care. No love between me and crows.

bolo June 10, 2015 (11:42 am)

Yes Lonnie is correct, the best defense is to “face your attacker.” The trick is that they (others?) find ways to sneak behind you and then attack. So face them down, but try to keep aware of your back.

colleen June 10, 2015 (11:44 am)

The crows are protecting their nestlings. They are beautiful and exceptionally intelligent animals. Several of us around here are feeding them. They are omnivores. I feed them fruit and cat food.

KM June 10, 2015 (11:46 am)

Crows are fascinating creatures and I really love them. Thanks for the info!

Joan June 10, 2015 (12:23 pm)

We have a family of four raising their young primarily in our back yard. They love the bird bath and have figured out that we’re not a threat and have become tolerant of us being out there with them. The young are at the awkward adolescent phase of learning to try and have learned they can’t perch vertically on a towel hanging on the clothesline. :o)

Kayo June 10, 2015 (12:26 pm)

Our backyard backs up to the WS golf course (with some large trees) and we are under siege from crows daily. They were waiting outside our back door this very morning cawing warnings to us in fact. We have a dog and they really go after him. It’s funny to watch them dive at him and our fat boxer woof at them. This happens to us every year so they must have a nest right behind our house. I was also at Camp Long yesterday and saw a large owl low in a tree being yelled at by a few crows. The owl flew right over my head as I walked by and the crows chased it and continued their harassment in another tree. I am very sympathetic to them as they are beautiful and intelligent birds and they must be amazing parents. Eventually, things will calm down as they always do.

Jason June 10, 2015 (12:27 pm)

If you ever piss off a crow they will never forget your face and I’m pretty sure they can somehow give your face info to their network of crow pals too so pretty much every crow in the area is mad at you. I always kiss up to crows is what I’m saying.

lovesbears June 10, 2015 (12:31 pm)

Laura, the exact same thing happened to me last Monday! Same spot and everything.

ws_suzanne June 10, 2015 (12:59 pm)

I’ve been studying crow behavior for many years. That level of aggressive response indicates that they were very likely protecting a nestling that had fallen out of the nest and was on the ground.

If you hear their escalating calls and experience defensive actions, MOVE AWAY if at all possible. Crossing the street is usually enough.

They start with vocalizing warning calls that get louder and more persistent. If you don’t move away, they will escalate to flying toward you. If they are actually touching you, that means that you are very close to their young chick and they are taking defensive action against you.

Simply put, they’ve warned you, you didn’t listen, and now they take action, just as we would.

DO move away. Do NOT face your attackers, as some have suggested. Why do that when we can simply cross the street?

MMB June 10, 2015 (1:00 pm)

So…I was not imagining it when I thought I saw a goshawk in Arbor Heights? It too had a baby bird in its talons. I’ve seen eagles and Cooper’s/sharpshins (can’t tell which) but I’d wondered what other typeshunt the area.

ws_suzanne June 10, 2015 (1:20 pm)

It could be a goshawk, but far more likely a Sharpshin or Cooper’s. Hawks can be very challenging to identify even for skilled birders. A great resource is http://www.allaboutbirds.org/.

If you’re interested in their behavior and looking for a fascinating summer book, pick up “H is For Hawk” — http://www.amazon.com/H-Hawk-Helen-Macdonald/dp/0802123414/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1433967483&sr=1-1&keywords=h+is+for+hawk.

cj June 10, 2015 (1:41 pm)

Shrug, I just speak to them in a friendly voice and they change their tone and fly off. Then again pretty sure I’m not close to a nest that I know of. The nest can sometimes be hidden in interesting places.

WSince86 June 10, 2015 (2:09 pm)

Had one clip me in the head two days ago while out for a walk in the morning at 52nd & Charleston. I did actually hear the cawing, now I’ll pay closer attention!

seattletimebandit June 10, 2015 (2:16 pm)

Up until last year we had a nesting pair of crows we named “George” and “Gracie” (after Burns & Allen). They did have one offspring (we named “Ragnar” [from “Vikings” on the History Channel]), but he was injured learning to fly and although we tried to help it by corralling it in our yard to keep away predators, and leaving food and water, it died. The amazing thing was that George and Gracie, although they were very vocal, did not even attempt to attack me as I was trying to keep Ragnar safe. They must have understood we were not a threat, that we kept the water in the bird baths full, and never harassed them. Amazing.

Unfortunately, not long after, Gracie had a damaged leg and after a couple of months she didn’t show up again and then we never saw George after that, he must have moved on. However, earlier this year a new pair arrived, we dubbed “Nick” and “Nora” (William Powell/Myrna Loy from the “Thin Man” movies). One thing we noticed was that Nora has 3 or 4 greyish tail feathers and a couple on her wings. We’d like to believe she’s descended from Leucy, who we did see a lot in Gatewood. We saw them building a nest awhile back and they spent a lot of time in our bird baths moistening food, maybe for a baby? Nick did have a dead mole the other day, which after we lost a nice Japanese Maple to moles this spring, it’s nice to see them watching out for us, and having a good meal.

Nick June 10, 2015 (2:31 pm)

My puppy found a baby crow in our yard and they started coming after us today put the puppy inside and the baby crow took off unscathed.

Julia June 10, 2015 (5:17 pm)

I remember Leucy (Brownie to me) and miss seeing her/him.

The crow speaker June 10, 2015 (5:25 pm)

I have a crow who visits me every time I go to the car in the alley. I affectionately call him Brandon lee. I feed him whenever I have nuts or bread and he’s very faithful. He even escorts me out of the neighborhood for a few blocks then we part ways. I guess they saw fit to leave me and mine alone. I cherish this animal bond I have with Brandon.

G June 10, 2015 (5:48 pm)

Speaking of goshawks, I saw a wintering pair here recently at the Sepulveda Wildlife Area in LA during a birding outing. Very exciting. Have seen them occasionally at Lincoln Park as well.

Felix June 10, 2015 (6:08 pm)

Our Crows have us trained to feed them, they love hard boiled or scrambled eggs.
They now come and perch close by, sometimes only 3 ft away, and ask for food. They have two fledglings who they will park near us as they go about other business, they totally trust us and we get a huge kick out of watching and interacting with them…they will often playfully swoop us then perch and wait for a treat. They never yell at us.

AJP June 10, 2015 (8:33 pm)

Ah, this might explain why I’ve seen three dead crows in the last week. All on sidewalks in West Seattle. One for sure looked like a juvenile, but I wasn’t sure about the other two. I wondered what was going on. Saddest one was in front of our house. My husband said that another crow was perched on our fence and cawing. He went out and saw the dead one. Seemed like it was mourning for its lost loved one.

ZS June 10, 2015 (8:51 pm)

In Pennsylvania there is a year-round, no limit hunting season for crows. In Pennsylvania, crows don’t mess with anyone. In fact, they are quite elusive and considered challenging prey to hunt. So clearly they are intelligent. Just saying other options exist…

Felix June 10, 2015 (9:34 pm)

ZS….I hope you’re not suggesting what I think you are…??

Momof8yo June 10, 2015 (9:56 pm)

Our family took a short weekend trip to California, and returned to find a nesting pair of crows had taken our porch as a “lookout” – their nest was in a nearby tree. My husband and 2 year old daughter were dive-bombed when they left the house Tuesday morning (June 2nd), and my son and I were dive-bombed when we left the house an hour later.

I had my son run for the car with his school backpack over his head. One of the crows actually knocked into the back of my head 3 times – it felt like I was being hit with a bag of sugar! And, we were trying to get away!!! We ended up putting a fake owl on the porch that afternoon. It seemed to work because one of the crows started to fly at me, then saw the owl and flew off. There was a lot loud talk among the crows, and they haven’t bothered us since.

Several times in the last week or so, our neighbors and people passing by have been dive-bombed, but so far I’m the only one who was actually hit by a crow (it hurt more than I expected). They haven’t attacked us since we put the owl on the porch.

FYI – we are 3 blocks South of the California/Alaska Junction on the west side of California. Wear a heavy hat or bring your umbrella!

amf June 10, 2015 (10:04 pm)

I had a problem where I park for work in montlake last year. They can get quite nasty. I used an umbrella after a few days of them attacking my head. It worked quite well and made me less afraid to walk down the street till fledging season was over.

hP June 10, 2015 (10:06 pm)

We also have two crows my 3-year-old son has named “Hotdog and Arnold”, and another he calls “King Crow”. We do feed them and in return they visit us regularly when they see the car pull in. They like to reward is by making a mess of the hood of my car.

Captain Dave June 10, 2015 (10:39 pm)

Crows believe in private property rights and freedom. They make a heck of a lot of ruckus when they are infringed upon. Perhaps their persistent appearance in Seattle means something? I hope the City council and Mayor know that the crows are coming for them.

datamuse June 10, 2015 (11:35 pm)

AJP and anyone else who sees dead crows or other birds: please consider reporting to the Department of Health or Department of Fish and Wildlife. They’re tracking West Nile and other diseases. Details here.

biankat June 11, 2015 (10:46 pm)

I love my crows :) we have a family with a juvenile who is just now flying. They love my birdbath and share the peanuts I put out for the squirrels and stellar jays. Stunning birds!