Meng and Melinda Chan, together with two other photographers, were out around the Lim Chu Kang cemetery area on the morning of 6th March 2005 to document the arrival of the male Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus caeruleus) bringing food to the female who was usually sitting in the nest incubating her eggs. The large nest of twigs sat firmly lodged between the end branches of a tall tree, totally exposed all around.

What they witnessed was a sad spectacle. The presumably female bird was perched on a branch near her nest, calling loudly.

This was unusual, as she was always in the nest, guarding her eggs from the constant threat posed by the many House Crows (Corvus splendens) that were around.

The bird then flew to a further branch to join its newly arrived mate. They remained there, not returning to the nest. This was again strange, as they seldom, if ever, left the nest and its contents unguarded. Were the birds stressed in any way? They must have been!

As Melinda described it later, “Our hearts sank when we watched helplessly what was unfolding in front of us.” A gang of four House Crows suddenly appeared. As there were no adult kites around, the crows launched a concerted attach. In Meng’s words, “The crows came in waves, like Japanese kamikazi pilots flying their planes in a series of attacks.”

The crows swarmed over the nest, screaming loudly. They zoomed in one by one to fly off with the contents, including a fully formed embryo and egg shells.

Meng and Melinda then realised that the adult kite they saw earlier, crying out loudly, was in fact crying in sorrow, knowing that the eggs would not complete their cycle and they would not see any nestlings.

Not too long later, when Ming and Melinda returned to the scene, they found the abandoned nest collapsed. But eight months later (November 2005), they found a pair, possibly the same pair, nesting again at the same location, but on a different tree. The crows were a constant threat and the kites had to fight them off all the time. As it was the rainy season then, they did not have much chance to monitor the nesting. The very last time they saw the nest, it was abandoned and was in a bad condition, probably another failed attempt at nesting.

Our bird specialist, R. Subaraj has this to say: These are fantastic dramatic shots that show clear proof of the threat the introduced House Crows pose on native birds. A flock of crows is quite capable of driving a kite off it’s nest to raid it. From one of the image, you can see that the Black-shouldered Kite is actually quite a small raptor compared to the corvid. As our grasslands shrink and the crow population increases, it becomes more and more difficult for the Black-winged Kites to successfully raise a brood. This in turn is a serious threat to the species in the long run.

Note: A detailed account of these kites and their antics when the parent birds arrive with food is given elsewhere by Hilary Hoe.

Text and images by Meng and Melinda Chan.

On 2nd April 2006, Johnny Wee was at Venus Drive when he spotted a White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) perching on a branch of a nearby tree. Apparently it was intensely eying a lizard on the ground nearby.

Johnny continued: “Its head feathers were fluffed erect and the pupils of its eyes were dilated to the maximum such that the eyes appeared white. Then suddenly the bird launched towards its prey. I was not able to see exactly what happened as my vision was blocked by the grass around. The bird then picked the dead lizard and returned to a nearby perch.

“The lizard was most possibly dead when the bird brought it back to the nearby perch. After all, its body was clearly pierced through by the bird’s beak as a result of the initial attack. The bird then flew off with the lizard between its beak.”

This kingfisher is a typical sit-and-wait predator spending long periods perched on a branch high above ground. While surveying the surrounding for prey, its head may be bobbing or its tail wagging. Once a potential prey is spotted, the bird swoops down to the ground, landing feet first, seizes the animal and return to the same perch or a nearby perch.

Text and image by Johnny Wee.

Following Si Guim’s account of his encounter with House Crows (Corvus splendens) when he simply looked at the injured bird, Timothy Pwee had a similar but more serious experience:

“Saturday (22nd April) was Earth Day and I spent the afternoon helping the Singapore Environment Council’s Waste to Wow! interschool competition. After the competition at around 6pm, I was headed down Victoria Street to the newly reopened National Museum of Singapore for a movie (Film Festival). That was when I got hit from the back! Now, I’ve been dive bombed by crows before, but this is the first time I’m been hit full force by one. Retreating to a safe distance, I tried to spot the nest (which I presumed the silly crows were defending) in the trees. It took me a while before I spotted a third crow in the bushes near the ground.

“Watching the crows, I realised they were attacking every other pedestrian. Especially loved the sight of a large tough-looking young man who got hit. He stood there for several minutes glaring at the crows. Several tourists exiting a nearby hotel got attacked too.

“I tried several times to grab the grounded crow which I suspect is a fledgling. However, I was driven back each time by the two guardian crows who would repeatedly attack my head and shoulders. Think I was hit about a dozen times. At least one of the strikes on my shoulders left a stinging cut though no blood was drawn. My shoulders have another three or four red lines that don’t hurt. My scalp was a different story. There I have at least two cuts though I didn’t realise it till much later when I found my hair had little scattered clots.

“Around nightfall, I made a final attempt at the bird with the help of a manager from the nearby hotel. While the manager fended off the attacks, I tried to grab the grounded crow with a tee-shirt. However, the bushes were too thick and I got tangled in the branches. The grounded crow promptly hopped out onto the road and immediately got rolled over - Ouch!

“Should I have left it alone? Well, its guardians were attacking passers-by initially - at least my attempts to catch the grounded crow made the crows concentrate their attacks on me, sparing the passing people. Also, after nightfall, I’m sure the grounded crow would have fallen prey to a sewer rat.

“Well, it’s now destined to become a specimen so its death has some meaning at least.”

Note:“I forgot to add that after the crow got run over, one of its guardians landed to check it for a moment before flying back into the trees. I then waited for the next break in the traffic to grab the corpse - and promptly got attacked again. On the other side of the road, I put the corpse into a plastic bag and walked back across the road, expecting to get attacked again. However, the other crows seemed to have lost interest once the corpse was bagged.”

Text and images (left fledgling, right adult) by Timothy Pwee. You may wish to check Tim’s link.

Comment by YC: This is an exciting account of sustained attacks by crows on passersby. I am sure Tim has the dubious honour of taking the most number of hits by these crows. Unlike Si Guim’s experience, extremely mild, to say the least, these crows assumed that anyone and everyone who were around were potential enemy. No body language involved here. Thanks Tim for an exciting account. Must have been exciting for you too.

Goh Si Guim had a most interesting encounter recently with House Crows (Corvus splendens). While he was walking along Lorong 4 Toa Payoh, he noticed an injured crow hopping on the ground with one wing limp. Being a naturalist that he is, he turned his head to take a second look. The next moment he was startled by a loud squawk and a smack on his head. A diving crow succeeded in its mission of distracting him from its injured comrade. In the interim, the injured crow rejoined the others who were all screeching around it in a protective way.

Si Guim was relieved that there was no loss of his hair nor did the strike draw blood.

The interesting thing was that there were many other people around the injured bird, all not paying attention to it except Si Guim.

From this experience, Si Guim now believes that crows are very protective of their kind. He wonders whether these crows can read body language. Did they interpret his looking at the injured bird as a sign that he was going to do it harm? After all, they left the others alone, those people who simply ignored the injured bird.

His other experience was at the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve where he was once pounced upon by a Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradisus). But that did not end in a bull’s-eye.

Note: My experience with a House Crow’s attack was when I handled an Asian Koel’s (Eudynamys scolopacea) fledgling (left) that emerged from a pair of crows’ nest in my garden. The fledgling landed on the ground during its initial attempt at flight and I managed to catch it to take a close-up shot. It was then released but its loud screaming attracted about a dozen crows overhead, all screaming loudly, so much so that all the neighbours came out to investigate what was happening. My further attempt at photographing the fledgling while on the ground was thwarted when the crows dive-bombed me, one missing my head by centimeters. Wisely I retreated indoors and the fledgling went into hiding. The screaming crows eventually left the scene and peace prevailed. YC

Thanks, Si Guim for this most interesting account. Images by YC.

On 19th April 2006 we had a posting by Angie Ng about how a House Crow (Corvus splendens) attacked and surgically cut up a rat. Gloria Seow, a member of the Nature Society (Singapore), read the account and sent in her encounter of these crows with an unfortunate bat.

“I am a member of NSS and I’ve been following your blog closely. Very interesting read so far, good job!

“Anyhow, since the topic has turned to crows and their hunting instincts, I am compelled to relate an encounter that I had with them. I was cycling through a quiet street flanked by landed properties on both sides (in Singapore) when I spied a group of about 6 House Crows in the middle of the street, pecking furiously at something. I stopped my bike out of curiosity and as I walked over to see what the commotion was about, the crows flew off en masse, unveiling their victim - a small bat that looked next to dead.

“The crows were apparently pecking at the bat’s throat, which was mangled and bloodied. There was nothing I could do to help the poor bat, which I believe had been systematically hunted by the crows. My theory is that it was probably napping in the mango tree (the incident happend at around 11am) when the crows decided that it was going to be their next meal.

“After snapping a few shots of the bat with my camera phone, I had to step aside for a passing car, and when I returned, the bat had apparently reared itself into a L-shaped ’sitting’ position, when previously it was lying flat on the tarmac. It was probably reacting to the prospect of being crushed by the passing vehicle.

“I did not stay to watch the crows finish off the little bat, which I’m sure would have been what happened after I left.

“I’m not surprised that crows are hunters too, given their advantage of having a larger built than most other birds, their huge beaks and their sheer numbers. The explosion of the crow population in Singapore also points to the abundance of food sources, which I’m sure cannot be just due to the rubbish left lying around, after all, Singapore is supposed to be CLEAN and green.

Warmest regards, Gloria Seow”

Our bird specialais, R. Subaraj has this to say: The bat in the photos appears to be a Common Fruit Bat (or Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bat), Cynopterus brachyotis. This is quite possibly our commonest local bat and is widespread in all habitats. They are often the colony found roosting under palm fronds or epiphytic ferns.

The crows are efficient hunters, though scavenging where ever possible is much easier. There are many accounts of crows attacking and killing a variety of animals, though more often than not, they would target the old, sick, weak or young.

The House Crow is the introduced species found commonly throughout most of Singapore, particularly around the more urbanised areas. It is largely a scavenger but is also a true opportunist. Often, when some birds like herons nest communally, the crows will take up residence nearby and steal eggs and chicks when the adults leave the nests unguarded. As a result, the large populations that exists in parts of Singapore pose a real threat to native bird populations. The fairly recent colonisation of Asian Koels (Eudynamys scolopacea) provides the first known biological control in Singapore for this feral species.

The native crow of Singapore is the Large-billed Crow (Corvus macrorhynchos). This is a much larger species and is all black without the grey on the neck that the House Crow pocesses. It has an impressive bill and a prominent bump on the head. It is also different in call and flight. This species is usually in pairs (unlike the flocking of the House) except when roosting for the night. They are far less common and largely occur in the less urbanised areas including our forested nature reserves. While they are proficient scavengers too, they are also effective hunters. I remember seeing a pair of Large-billed Crows chased a fruit bat, that they had probably disturbed from roost, at Khatib Bongsu some years back. Recently, I have realised that they are not above trying new things too when I watched them trying to hawk flying termites!

Thanks to Gloria Seow for the post and Subaraj for the comment. Images by Gloria.