Protecting the nest

I didn’t hear back from any ornithologists on that last post, so I was forced to spend some extra screen time to find out why those little birds are harassing the crows. Apparently they’re protecting the nest. It’s not that any particular crow has eaten their fledglings. It’s just the principle of the thing; you protect the nest, preemptively if required.

That’s got to be the oldest shared value of anything that ever evolved into family units. You protect the nest.

I remember a few years ago, when a good-size black bear was ambling along the creek. He went into the pasture where a dozen cow-calf pairs were grazing. The cows herded the calves together, then a few of the mamas guarded the little ones, while the rest went chasing after the bear, who was happy enough to scamper into the woods.

Protecting the nest.