Might a "murder of crows" hold a funeral?

[cathie...@gmail.com]

For several years now, near sunset in winter, we have gotten used to seeing hundreds of crows streaming over our neighborhood from the south and west, heading north to their roosts in Augusta along the Kennebec River.

Earlier this week however hundreds of them dropped out of the air to converge on a few huge pine trees and an ancient ash tree in the next yard over.

We have lived here almost 30 years and this has never happened.

The crows sat in jumbled clots with only mutterings or brief calls. No feeding, foraging or harassment of a predator.

After about 5 minutes they took off, and they haven't alighted since.

There was one dead crow lying in the yard.

Were they acknowledging their fallen comrade?

Elephants do it; do crows?

Your thoughts?

Cathie Murray, Hallowell

[jill ippoliti]

Read Bellman & Black, fiction by Diane Shetterfield and then speculate some more!

[Susan McCloskey]

I had a similar though smaller-scale experience some years ago when I found a freshly dead crow in the street in front of my house in downtown Portland. It was surrounded by 5 or 6 other crows, who were making a great racket. They didn't object when I took the dead crow away and buried it. Did not see any signs of injury on the dead crow. 

Just found this online: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/544646/why-crows-hold-noisy-funerals-their-fallen-friends

 

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