Crows

Corvids are ranked remarkably high for their intelligence and shrewdness. Did you know, that a group of ravens is called a ‘conspiracy’, among other quirky names like a ‘treachery’ and a ‘rave’? Their close cousins, the crows, have an even more drastic title: they are known as a ‘murder’.

The origin of this macabre moniker is centuries old. Crows, among other things, are carrion birds; they were often seen consuming the dead around battlefields, graveyards, execution gallows and plague pits. Another, more poetic origin for the name might stem from European folklore, where people believed (falsely) that crows formed tribunals and courts to judge one of their own according to ‘crow laws.’ If found guilty, the punishment would be a collective . . . murder.

However, I would rather call a flock of crows a mob, and I do mean it in the mafia sense of the word.

More on that in a bit.

Kites

Kites are probably the most prevalent raptors out there. Especially the Black Kites, which have superbly adapted to urban environments. One can sometimes observe huge swarms of these rather big birds swirling around known food sources.

The other kite species, which is frequently spotted in the coastal areas and wetlands of the Indian Subcontinent, is the Brahminy.

They are easily distinguished by their white head, neck and breast contrasting with a chestnut body.

During my research though, I was surprised to discover that juvenile Brahminy don’t have that distinctive white plumage, instead they closely resemble Black Kites. I even spotted birds of different feathers flocking together a few times, and they turned out to be Brahminy families.

Fortunately, young Brahminys can still be distinguished from Black Kites by their rounded tails and distinctive beak coloration.

Also, compared to the Black, the Brahminy are smaller and gentler and far more solitary. They are also known as the red-backed sea-eagle and hold a reverent place in Indian mythology, where they are regarded as the living embodiment of Garuda, the sacred mount of Vishnu.

However, these gentle, solitary, semi-divine birds of prey frequently find themselves in the crosshairs of the sinister avian syndicate, which brings us right back to the our corvid mobsters.

Crows and kites have a huge territorial overlap, and they have an adversarial relationship. Around coastal Karnataka where these shots were taken, we could frequently spot the conflict in play, especially in urban areas.

Crows take up the tactic of consistently and repeatedly harassing the raptors. They would gang-up and dive on them and even peck at their feathers, all in the effort to either drive the raptors away from the crow nests or to force them drop their catch. In fact, ecologists have given this kind of behaviour the very apt name of mobbing.

This racket is not just directed towards the Brahminy. The Black Kites, which in many ways are urban peers of the crows, also find themselves being mobbed and harassed. Keep in mind that these raptors themselves are highly industrious, exceptionally agile, and easily twice the size of a crow. Yet, the crow syndicate shows no intimidation.

However, I was truly amazed by the sheer audacity of the crows when I saw them taking on the apex predator of the coast.

The Eagle

A glorious White-Bellied Sea Eagle, to be precise.

I was standing on a bridge overlooking the Malpe Harbour, shooting photos of the passing boats underneath, when I sensed this massive mini jet of a raptor fly right over me. Spotting and shooting an actual soaring eagle is always a rare, special occasion, and having this apex predator flying so close to me got me giddy with excitement.

But very soon thereafter, I noticed what appeared to be small black dots tailing and dive-bombing around the giant bird.

This felt like an absolute outrage and I was truly in awe of their chutzpah. These sea eagles are easily ten times heavier than a crow and are the undisputed rulers of these coastal skies.

Yet, even that staggering scale did not stop the crows.