Date: 3/18/25 10:34 pm From: Scott Ramos via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: [Tweeters] American Crow as a duck-herder
At Magnuson Park yesterday morning, just after dawn, a single American Crow was exhibiting what might be characterized as a herding behavior. Groups of American Wigeon and Mallards can often be seen on the lawn by the swim beach. As I approached the beach I observed a crow flying toward a group of ~30 wigeon and a handful of Mallards. The ducks were annoyed and scattered a little, some heading from the lawn to the rocky beach while others simply moved away, still on the lawn. The crow made a quick circle and came back from the opposite direction and a few more of the ducks headed toward the water. At first I thought the crow was just being annoying, but then it repeated the maneuver 3 or 4 more times until all the ducks were now in the water. This seemed more than random as the crow's moves were deliberate and precise. Was it trying to shoo them away from a food morsel? Once all the ducks were off the grass and in the water, the crow flew down to the cobble beach, paused for a moment, then flew out to the swim platform to join a few other crows and the typical contingent of gulls. I inspected the area where the ducks had originally congregated but could find no obvious food or other attractant.
