Saturday, October 18, 2008 Bennett: The crows of John Hay By Nonnette Bennett Stories
THE urban sprawl has pushed crows to nest in the pines of Camp John Hay, a welcome event for the John Hay Management Corporation (JHMC) in charge of preserving biodiversity in the former US military camp.
Appearing in different areas of John Hay, the murder of crows numbering 10 or so play on the lawn or roost on the rails as they suspiciously watch humans walk about. The intelligent birds with shiny black feathers and sharp beaks caw against the rumble of vehicles passing by. Watchers stay at a distance otherwise the birds flee to higher branches of the pine.
Cornell University crow expert Kevin McGowan says these birds mate for life or until the death of their mate. They are close-knit as a family and sometimes stay within adjacent territories for seven generations. They are territorial and usually wait until a crow dies, then take over the territory.
Older siblings called helpers help the family build nests, feed incubating females, feed hatchlings and chase away predators. These crows wait two or more years before they breed.
In Baguio City, the last pine stand within the city is at John Hay and the tall trees are where these crows build their nests far from predators who eat their eggs and nestlings. According to McGowan, nests are temporary homes for the eggs, they get out of these nests as quickly as possible because this makes their nests less vulnerable.
Crows are foragers who thrive on trash as their source of food but are also dependent on earthworms. These two food sources are available at Camp John Hay making it their ideal home.
With a lifespan of 17 to 21 years one can catch these families of crows at different locations in the Camp. In the evenings they roost in high trees and then return in the morning to the grounds.
Although the population of crows remains constant in John Hay, the possibility of the bird landing on human dining tables could be a distant possibility given the reputation of the taste of crow meat as "terrible".
Stories state that during the War of 1812, a British soldier caught an American soldier shoot a crow in British territory and as punishment made him eat the bird. The soldier said the meat tasted terrible.
Thus the idiom "eat crow" means to be forced to admit a humiliating mistake.
Only at Camp John Hay do you get a treat from nature. Bird watching as a hobby can also be a valuable contribution to researches made at the Cornell University if one joins the citizen science focused on birds.
Celebrate Urban Birds with urbanbirds@cornell.edu by coming to Camp John Hay and watching the urban crows. Help preserve the last territory of crows.
