Mobbed

 A dozen crows mobbed a red-tail hawk above the woodlot. The crows drove it east and then somehow turned it and drove it back west, giving me two looks at the magnificent raptor. The big hawk plodded along as the smaller, more agile crows nipped at its heels and screamed.

I knew the spectacle was coming because I heard the distinctive two-syllable calls.

 

Crows give at least three distinguishable assembly caws that are associated with mobbing, scolding, and diving at potential predators. These “two-syllable caws,” “long caws,” and “harsh caws” focus American Crows on the object of the caller’s scorn — usually a stationary cat or owl — in an attempt to drive the creature from the area, alert others to its presence, or perhaps teach family and flock members about dangerous situations.

 

Biologists have a hard time saying how many different calls crows use. One problem is the variation in regional dialects. But if you play a recording of American crows screaming that two-syllable call in France, the local crows come, looking for trouble.

• Source: John M. Marzluff and Tony Angell, In the Company of Crows and Ravens; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005, p. 201.