I have seen groups of American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) harass eagles and hawks many times in the past, so whenever I hear the excited cawing of of crows, I immediately start to look for a large raptor. When this happened on Thursday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I quickly spotted the dark shadow of a large bird in a tree and assumed that it was a Bald Eagle.
I was a bit shocked when I zoomed in on the bird and realized that it was a Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus), not an eagle. I had no idea that crows would chase vultures. Sometimes the crows would perch on branches of the tree close to the vulture and appear to try to convince the vulture to leave—this is what seems to be happening in the second photo.
At other times, the crows would aggressively buzz the vulture, flying right at the vulture and veering off only at the last second. I managed to capture the first image just as one of the crows appeared ready to attack the vulture from behind, but there was no collision. The vulture flapped its wings several times to try to scare off the crows, an action that did not seem to deter the pesky crows. A short time later the vulture departed to search for a more peaceful perch.
Happy Halloween.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Did I ever mention to you what a group of noisy crows is called. It’s a…
cawcus.
I love it–I have a notoriously warped sense of humor. 🙂
Very dramatic first photo. I lovd it! Great work as always Mike.
Thanks, Suzette. Static photos of birds are ok, but I love it when I can manage to capture an action shot like that first image, what noted photographer Cartier-Bresson liked to call a “decisive moment.”
A “decisive moment” what an excellent phrase!
Ha!
Nice series of images Mike! Enjoyed seeing them!
Thanks, Reed.
Good series, and like the way you were able to work with black birds. We have as many vultures as we do crows, maybe more, and I don’t remember them having issues.
Thanks, Ted. I suspect that these kind of interactions happen much more often than we realize. So many birds have a real sense of territoriality, as your photos of the different types of water birds show so well.
Tallons out on that crow in the first image, looking like he means business!
I must admit, Chris, that I have never seen a crow look that menacing.
You gotta pull for the little guy, Mike. Great photos. We have a family of house wrens in our yard. The mother will chase the mush larger blue jays off her house, and she pursues them for about 50 feet.