[ExI] The Magpie Whisperer

[William Flynn Wallace]

Do we suppose that the raven was just having fun?  Or maybe it had a nest
full of chicks?  (I wish I did!)   bill w

On Tue, Jun 22, 2021 at 2:18 PM BillK via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> On Tue, 22 Jun 2021 at 19:51, Stuart LaForge via extropy-chat
> <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Quoting Spike:
> >
> > > Cool, thanks BillK!
> > >
> > > We have ravens around here which do things like this: find a person
> > > they perceive as sympathetic and hang around in their yard.  They
> > > somehow perceive things like that.  They fight and play too, more
> > > than any mammal species I know other than humans.
> > > spike
> >
> > There are some ravens that live or hang out near my work. A few months
> > ago, I saw one of the ravens do something pretty amazing. I was in the
> > parking lot watching a large hawk that was lazily circling high
> > overhead just riding the thermals presumably on the look out for prey.
> > I then noticed another bird that I was shocked to see was a raven
> > flying higher than I have ever seen a raven fly, making a beeline
> > toward the hawk.
> >
> > The hawk, legendary for the acuity of its vision, was completely
> > oblivious of this raven approaching him. It was then that I realized
> > that the raven had climbed to an altitude higher than the hawk off in
> > the distance somewhere, and was now sneaking up on the hawk from above
> > while the hawk was scanning the ground.
> >
> > When the raven hit the hawk beak first, I noticed the raven and the
> > hawk were of similar size, but the hawk had no idea what was
> > happening. It tumbled in the air a few times and then flapped
> > frantically to get away from the raven. The raven chased it for a
> > while, but the hawk who did not want any part of that raven.
> >
> > Ravens are definitely a top-tier bird.
> >
> > Stuart LaForge
> > _______________________________________________
>
> Copied that technique from Spitfire pilots in the Battle of Britain WWII!
>
> BillK
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