Crows have been a hot topic for researchers for a long time, particularly in the past 15-20 years. Most of the research has focused on cognitive skills, and whether a crow is a conscious being. Researchers studying fish, ants and honey bees also have looked at those questions.
A fascinating article in the March issue of The Atlantic, written by Ross Andersen, is set in Old Delhi, India, and begins in a bird hospital on the edge of a medieval bazaar.
It’s run by “devotees of Jainism, an ancient religion whose highest commandment forbids violence” against humans. And animals. Jains believe that animals are conscious.
If you don’t have a subscription to The Atlantic, the story can be found online at www.theatlantic.com. The headline is “Scientists are Totally Rethinking Animal Cognition.”
Local crows. The Baker Heights community has a murder (flock) of crows, but a decision by the Everett Housing Authority to clear a major portion of the land and replace the World War II-era housing with dozens of new units will alter the crow-human-environment dynamics.
“All our old trees will be destroyed along with everything else,” said Beverly Bowers, who has lived in Beverly Heights for nearly 20 years.
“Our crows inhabit all those trees in our small community, every day; even though they fly off at dusk, they always return at early dawn,” Bowers said. “What will become of our neighbors, the crows? I don’t mean to make it sound like our local crows will (totally) disappear. After all, the Delta neighborhood has plenty of old-growth trees.
“But I will surely miss living amongst the crows. I am deeply saddened for them as well as all my neighbors being dispersed to different parts of Everett and beyond.”
Christmas Bird Count. Speaking of crows … following protocol developed by Douglas Wacker of the University of Washington-Bothell, four student teams saw 14,890 crows as they flew toward their roost site during the Edmonds/South Snohomish CBC.
This was the 35th consecutive year that the Pilchuck Audubon Society has sponsored the CBC in this area.
A record 131 species were recorded versus a 10-year average of 123 and a previous record high of 129. A total of 36,725 individual birds were observed, according to compiler Rick Taylor.
There were a record-high 97 field participants and 75 home feeder counters. Two new species were added to the count this year: surfbird and pine grosbeak.
CBC firsts: a surfbird on the Edmonds breakwater, a swamp sparrow at North Creek Park and one at Brackett’s Landing in Edmonds; a Harris’s sparrow photographed at the Edmonds Marsh; a pine grosbeak at a feeder near Mill Creek; and a yellow-billed loon and a Clark’s grebe on the Sound. A pine grosbeak was found at a feeder near Mill Creek. Pine grosbeaks are the largest of Washington’s finches but not usually found in this area. Harris’s sparrow is the largest sparrow in North America but rare in the Puget Trough.
Record high counts: harlequin ducks, pelagic cormorants, Virginia rail, greater yellowlegs, Eurasian collared-dove, red-breasted nuthatch, brown creeper, marsh wren, swamp sparrow, and American goldfinch.
Misses: greater scaup, found in 91 percent of counts; and eared grebe, found in 51 percent of the counts.
Record low counts: lesser scaup, American coot.
Record feeder counts: The feeder counters had a significant positive impact on the success of the count, reflecting the primary habitat of the circle, the suburbs. This year 75 people counted birds at feeders at 60 locations, detecting 2,601 birds belonging to 57 species. One counter detected our area’s first pine grosbeak. The counters found 62 percent of band-tailed pigeons, 54 percent of Anna’s hummingbirds, 52 percent of bushtits, and 50 pecent of Townsend’s warblers.
On the water. Counters working from a boat cruised marine waters in the count circle. They detected 40 species and 1,680 total birds.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or at songandword@rockisland.com.
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