Sunday, June 3, 2012

Crows and orioles

The crows ('uwak' in the Tagalog dialect) are always around spying on mother's eggs, chicks, and who knows maybe they are also keen on somebody else's chicks. Crows are known to be one of the world's most intelligent animals, and that is very prominently displayed in our property. They are also omnivorous, so eats everything available in their area. They can also hear sounds not possible for the humans to hear and they have been shown to have the ability to visually recognize individual humans. They inform their group about the presence of "bad" humans through squawking. Maybe in our property, they very well know my mother, because they scurry away whenever mother goes near their perch. She  usually throws stones to drive these crows eyeing her free range chickens.


The crows and orioles in our skies in the province are perennial enemies. Their fights happen when the orioles have nests on top of trees. Even if the orioles are smaller, they are good fighters too. They are very noisy, maybe calling their peers, and i see maybe 6-7 of them fighting crows on air. And the squawking and bird noise obviously tell of angry voices. I haven't seen any oriole egg or nestling stolen by the crows, but maybe with their size and intelligence and the distressed sounds of the orioles, maybe they were able to get them. Of course we hate the crows, but i am sure they are essential parts of our ecosystem. They also eat some of our unwanted creatures in the farm like snakes, rodents, and insects. 


Oriole's back view

oriole with one wing open preening itself very well

oriole's back underside showing the anus and the black patch on its abdomen

showing the top abdomen and tail's underside

Oriole's full side view showing the red beak, black eyes and black feet

crow perched on a coconut leaf scanning environment for food


leaving the perch for maybe a possible take of food


a group of crows on the thick canopy preening themselves after the rain





42 comments:

  1. The crows are indeed very intelligent. However, I could also do without their presence near my home. Usually they stay a bit lower in altitude, so we're not bothered too much by their visits. Great pics!

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  2. Great shots of the orioles!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  3. Great shots. That Oriole is sure bright and beautiful!

    Cher Sunray Gardens

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  4. Good photos! I especially liked the 6th photo up from the bottom, of the oriole. Lovely shot of a beautiful bird.

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  5. Crows seem to be crows no matter where they are...but your oriole is a much larger bird with a larger beak with similar colorings to ours...mine seems to be a bit more orange too...

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    1. Donna, i wonder why i can't open the link above on your site. That is the reason i am not visiting your site yet, so sorry. All of a sudden it doesn't allow me.

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  6. Very nice photo series,
    the birds you have photographed well ...
    Best regards, Karin

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  7. Interesting to learn about the behavior of crows - and about the enmity of crows and orioles - in your area. (And your photos, especially of the oriole, are gorgeous!) Crows overwinter in large numbers in our area, but seem much less common during the summer months. I can't say that I'm too upset they don't nest in our yard.

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  8. We don't see orioles here (they look lovely), but we do have crows and I agree. They are a very smart bird.

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  9. We have Baltimore orioles here - same yellow and black markings (a bit larger than the goldfinches) but not as exotic a beak. Amazing how things are so similar!!!

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  10. Crows & Orioles are the common birds in my region.
    So much so people tend not to notice them especially crows are they are a nuisance when they scavenge near the bins and garbage piles.

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  11. Hi Andrea, love that beautiful Oriole! Stunning shots.
    Hugs,
    Jann

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  12. Great captures, Andrea! The oriole is very colorful and makes a much nicer subject than the mayas in the city.

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  14. That's a super series of orioles and crow shots, Andrea. I like your fair narrative too; no bad guys here (even if you "hate" the crows). :-)

    [Re your question on my post: Andrea, I can't wait to go home to Manila and discover the new murals you've been telling me about! As for differentiating... murals are creative wall art that are invited, while graffiti are illicit. That's not to be confused with what is good or bad art - both murals and graffiti can be either and that is probably in the eye of the beholder. It's easy for me to dislike bad graffiti. But to be frank, I am conflicted about good graffiti... I do not know whether the art on this wall was invited or not... but I'd say it's been there a while and no one has attempted to erase/cover it. And in my eye it does enhance its environment. Don't you agree?]

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    1. yes i believe you about graffiti here, but i think we are not very much into murals. However, i really don't like those uninvited illicit drawings on the walls. The Parks and Wildlife i am telling you about is difficult to reach from my office, because it is very near for a ride and very far to walk, hahaha! I was looking at it every afternoon our jeep pass by it, and i think i love it better now than the former original pure white outlines. Many volunteers, even the former Vice President, helped filling up the drawings. I just saw them on TV.

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  15. Thanks for the interesting commentary about crows and orioles. We have many crows around here, and often hear them squawking. We rarely see orioles, so I enjoyed your pictures very much.

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  16. so nice to see the oriole. bec of horror movies, i'm quite scared of crows - darn you CHILDREN OF THE CORN :)

    it's great to know that these kinds of birds are still thriving. in my province i grew up not seeing so many birds. but i hear from old people there used to be many kinds of birds around.

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    1. Birds just remain in our property because there are no sling shots and air guns in the vicinity, and we are not changing much of our vegetation since my father died. Our trees are now tall and they feel safe with us. However, nearby farms are also not preferred by these birds, as they are scared there. So they come to us!

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  17. Your orioles are neat....very different from the ones here.....well no matter what, orioles anywhere are a treat to see in the wild. Everyone cuts oranges up here and put them on their mesquite trees. And yet....I've never seen one in Arizona:) Also nice flight captures.

    To answer your question....
    I'm a Spanish instructor by day.
    Docent/groundskeep on the weekend and..
    my hobbies circle around wildlife, gardens and travel....

    Which is where I am at right now....sitting in a terribly boring airport waiting for our flight....but internet is free!!!! Hope you had a good day. Kreesh:)

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    1. i Kreesh, i think i've seen all your travels everywhere, and i love most your stories in Africa where you got the nickname i call you now. Do you know that we have Spanish in our schools before? But because we are not using it i already forgot how to speak and understand it well, i already forgot conjugating irregular verbs. But when in Sweden a group of Spanish speaking ladies were lost, cant find the bus station, so i helped being the only one who 'hablo Espanol pero un poco'. My companions were amazed that the ladies understood me, and i am amazed also that i was able to dig a few words from my archives. Muchas Gracias.

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  18. Those Orioles are so magnificent, Andrea! I think our Magpies and Crows have a similar relationship to each other! ... but we don't have many snakes here to interest them. Beautiful photography as usual ... and let me know if you should find a Froghopper!!!

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  19. What a beautiful bird the Oriole is. Great shots Andrea. I keep trying to lure some of them into my yard but haven't had much luck.

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  20. What a beautiful bird the oriole is. Your 5th capture is lovely. I also enjoyed the photo of the crow in flight. Thank you for your visit. The Tower Bridge you commented on, which lifts to open, is a very famous London sight.

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  21. I truly love the oriole pictures. Thanks for sharing.

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  22. Lovely series of shots, Andrea. The second last one is my fave!

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  23. Andrea,
    your Orioles look different to ours in the garden!!
    Ours are called Northern Oriole (Icterus galbula)or
    Baltimore Orioles are native to eastern North America.
    Your pictures are great, thank you for sharing.

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  24. We see a lot of Crows here but we don't have the pleasure of seeing those beautiful Orioles. They are lovely looking birds. The call of the Crows always makes me shiver a little. It's just so mournful!

    By the by, I've nominated you for the 'Versatile Blogger' Award. I think that's a well deserved title as you write about so many things.

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    1. Oh thank you very much Bernie for the award, where will I see it? I am not visiting much of the net lately, mostly use the mobile phone only, also haven't keep up with posting because i have problems with my PC. I am home in the province now, but my external drive is left in the city so no post also, haha!

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  25. The crows are common in my area too. I would side the Orioles anytime.

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  26. We get plenty of crows Andrea. The Oriole is indeed magnificent and I have no doubt Myra would be feeding this one if it were a visitor in these parts.

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  27. Andrea... thank you for the pictures of the (black nape?) orioles... I would say they are among the very top of my list of favorite birds... I absolutely love their colors, and their melodic 'songs'...

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    1. Hi Lrong, i am not good in photographing birds, most especially because my lens are limited. But this one presented itself near me. I watched them again this weekend, and they give lots of different calls and songs, i wonder which call is intended for what! We also have two kingfishers that visit, but orioles are really very lovely.

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  28. Hello Andrea, I haven't visited for far too long. What a lovely post. The crows we have in Scotland are bad news for small birds too. I think they are hungry predators all over the world. I remember the orioles well from when I lived in Singapore. Such a lovely bird, and such a distinctive voice. We have a few yellow birds, but they are all very small.

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    1. Hi kininvie, all the commenters here from around the world and a wide range of climates say that the crows are not that liked, they agree it is intelligent but its habits as a carnivore hated. In our hot tropics, i wonder how their population can be decreased, as they seem to rule the birds' territory.

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  29. The oriole is such a beautiful bird. We have crows in the city and they really are a nuisance. They fight with many bird species here. Last year the Grackles killed baby robins and fought and wounded the parents. Crows, Starlings and Grackles travel in groups sometimes, so that is many nasty birds all at once.

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  30. The crows here rule the territory - well dare a buzzard come within 100 yards of our garden and surrounding area as they go out in two's to attack the bird of prey.

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  31. I have nominated you for the Versatile Blogger award. Check it out in my latest post. You have a great day!

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  32. Andrea, Great captures of your Oriole. I note that both yours and our Baltimore Orioles enjoy preening . . . fastidious fellows. I was watching and photographing one preening yesterday for over fifteen minutes. Your birds seem larger (especially the beak!) than ours and the markings are quite different. Ours are related to Blackbirds. As for Crows . . . they are such a bother here too. Intelligent yes . . . a real threat to other birds here in our gardens and forest. They are always pestering the hawks too. I clap my hands loudly and they always disperse . . . now that is not too smart. ;>) I would love to know the meaning of the other name you use . . . beautiful . . . Kalantikan?

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    1. Hahaha, clapping your hands to drive away crows is the kindest technique, i guess! We throw stones and sticks to them and i wonder why old folks loudly say the word "wana" to them. I don't know that term but realized it refers to the shriek of our Brahminy kites hawks. I suppose old folks experienced that crows are afraid of them. I think our orioles are more beautiful than the Baltimore orioles because of its bright yellow and red beaks, and yes maybe larger. Now about Kalantikan, it is a long ridge in our area in the province between the mountain range and overlooks the sea. It is a lovely spot where your views are endless. I described it in the first post in my www.pureoxygengenerators.blogspot.com site.

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