I miss my old morning robin routine before the crows showed up

Used to sit with my coffee at 6am and watch 3 or 4 robins hop around my yard in Portland for a solid 20 minutes. Then last spring a flock of like 15 crows moved into the big oak tree and now the robins barely stick around for 2 minutes before they scatter. It's wild how one species can just take over and mess up your whole dawn birdwatching vibe. Has anyone else had a new bird move in and chase away your regulars?

3 comments

3 Comments

ryantorres9d ago

Those crows probably run a tighter schedule than the robins. I see them patrol the same route through my neighborhood every morning like clockwork, no messing around. Maybe the robins just couldn't handle the shift change.

the_joseph9d ago

The robins are just as organized, they're just working a different system. Crows might look like they're on a military schedule but they're always checking in with each other, squawking out orders, making a big show of it. Robins move quiet and steady, they don't need the fanfare. If anything, the crows are the ones that would mess up a shift change because they have too many chiefs in that crew. I've watched robins slip into a territory and go right to work while crows are still arguing about who's on first.

wendy6289d ago

Wait, @the_joseph has a point though - I've watched robins hit the same patch of lawn at the exact same minute every day without a single peep, so quiet you'd miss them. The crows are just louder about it, not necessarily more organized.