Thanks to Kevin Freitas for sharing that view of urban wildlife going head-to-head in his neighborhood southeast of The Junction. When he first published it on Twitter, general consensus was that the rabbit was defending a nearby nest, and it is indeed baby-bunny season. For info on rabbits, you can check out the state’s “Living with Wildlife” species-specific guide.
Crows are so pesky. I try to keep peace with them by throwing out the occasional unsalted peanut. Thanks for sharing.
It is also baby bird season…. saw a crow rob a Blue Jay nest and carry off a baby blue jay this week — the parents went crazy and fought hard only for the crow to drop it and stalk it and go back to grab it 2 more times before I left the park, I didn’t know what to do. Baby seemed too big for mom to carry it back but too young to fly.
How interesting! One of the crows appears to be a juvenile, notice the begging behavior when the other adult comes near?
Herongrrrl: I noticed the same thing. The begging behavior is indicative of a young crow with a parent. I’m not sure why the crows are so close to the rabbit, as the rabbit is too large to be a meal for the crows. I wonder if the parent is teaching the juvenile something about how a rabbit will respond when provoked.
Oh interesting indeed! Young crow learning to be a crow.
Question for the bird nerds out there… what is the small grey bird (slightly bigger than a chickadee, smaller than a towhee) with a solid black head and neck, trying to identify, any ideas?
More detail to help name bird… light grey underbelly, light brown shades on back, solid black head and neck, light beak
It sounds like a junco from your description. Very common here. We have the Oregon and dark-eyed forms. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Dark-eyed_Junco/media-browser/66115741
Ha! Lol. Someone needs to see some classic movies.&nb
Look, that rabbit’s got a vicious streak a mile wide! It’s a killer!
Team Crow here, but I appreciate a parent defending their babies. I’m about to relocate from Belltown to North Delridge/Alaska Junction, and I’m working on befriending my local corvids as I’m leaving behind a friendship with a nesting pair who set up housekeeping near my balcony. They have had to work pretty hard to keep seagulls off their eggs and now (I presume) babies. Hoping the younguns fledge out enough to pay a visit or two before my move is complete in a few weeks.
Good luck with the move! Crow(s) have taken to the bird bath in our front yardlet this year (Upper Fauntleroy). Kind of an amusing sight as it’s not a large bird bath – TR
My brother-in-law witnessed a crow grab a baby rabbit and fly off with it in their front yard. The rabbit’s den and parents were close by. I’m guessing the crows are on the hunt for baby rabbits in this video too.
Team Crow here too but, gotta appreciate a normally-delicate animal going ‘I’m three ounces of whoop-a**, square up birdy!’
Just watched this video a couple times again and realized that the juvenile crow passes directly over the rabbit toward the very end and grabs him in his claws, successfully lifting him up slightly and transporting him a few feet before losing his grip and dropping him. This was clearly no game for the rabbit. He was doing all he could to show the crows that he wasn’t going to be pushed around, but there were times when he was very exposed and vulnerable to the crows if they were determined to hunt him. As I study this video, the crows look like they were toying with the rabbit — likely hunting practice. However, reality is that the full grown adult rabbit would be no match if these two crows teamed up for the hunt.
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