I haven't seen a mockingbird take up residence here in a couple of years. And the last one that was here, I was never able to get close enough to, to get a really good close-up. There is a nesting pair hanging around again, so I decided to sit outside in the shade for an hour or so to see if I could get close enough for a picture. It turns out that I didn't. But I did see some interesting behavior:
I'm sure you've seen birds chase crows. The crow being chased usually makes this low-pitched sound: Uk. Uk. Like he's being picked on, and complaining about it. I heard that sound from a crow overhead, but it wasn't being chased. It went towards this large tree that some Cassin's kingbirds nest in every year. Once it got within about 50 yards of the tree, it suddenly turned around and started flying the other direction. The kingbirds did not give chase. Then I saw another crow approaching from another angle. Then another crow, far overhead, from the opposite direction. Once they were all three close to the same point on the map, they followed the first crow back in the direction he originally came from. To me, they really looked like they were working together.
It seemed to me that the first crow was trying to get the kingbirds to chase it. Why would it do that? It might be just that it wants to play. I've seen crows act like they were picking on kingbirds in the past for fun. But I think those three crows were working together to poach the kingbird's nest. Crows are known to be smart. They're known to be nest-poachers, too. I'll keep watching for more evidence, and let you know if I find out anything new.
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