Ha (Threat on the Ground)

Ha!  (1 video, above)

March 11, 2015 1:30PM

Meaning: Threat below. Cat/Human. 

Uses: To alert others of a threat on the ground. To express surprise. To intimidate a threat.

Interpretation: I would say this Crow, who is the new resident mother leader in the forest area I watch is about 4-6 years old. She felt only moderately surprised and threatened by my presence here. Her mother died this winter, and she has an obvious learning curve going on with her new job, which shows. She uses too many calls to corale the family, lacks clout with her siblings,  and even her mate keeps his distance, which only makes her more growly and irritated. Hopefully she'll learn to lead with fewer commands, and a bit more dignity. It is a very lonely job which requires that she remain on guard at the home front most of the time, and she doesn't get to play. Typical mother's role, all domestic work and no play. It will be interesting to see if she manages to raise a successful clutch this year. The husband needs to step up. 

The Call: I surprised this bird as she was singing her love song in a the shade of a low tree. She did not feel too threatened as her call was not high repeat, not high pitch, and she stayed overhead before flying away a short distance, and quickly quieted down.

Compared to Fig: Fig makes this call every day. When she first comes into the house, she will yell food several times, even if she isn't particularly hungry bacause she associates me with food, and usually something treatish, then she quickly switches to alerting me to anything she sees around the house that she finds threatening such as, a black sock, a pair of black underwear, a black bra, a black umbrella, sheep skin boots, a feather, the cat, reflective material on backpacks, shoes, or clothes, cheap $100 suits made of polyester, vinyl or nylon clothing which makes a reflection, and a high pitched noise. Feathers are usually considered toys by Figgy, but if she sees one that the cat has chewed up, that represent the scariest thing in the known universe, and she will utterly freak out in fear to such a degree that I think she may actually give herself a heart attack, so feathers are played with behind closed doors with kitty, then locked away.

Fig's Reaction: Even Fig seemed to pick up that this Crow was a bit of a spaz. She seemed  only mildly alerted and concerned upon hearing this call.