Can anyone help me out here please, a large black bird possibly a member of the crow family is nesting very high up in one of our trees, for 3 days now it has been calling, it sound like KAW or possibly MAW i'm unsure but it sounds so distressing, it flies away from time to time but returns, it's almost on a time schedule. Is it possible that another predator has taken the chicks although i don't know if there were any but a neighbour did mention that she saw magpies flying around the area, can someone please give me an idea of what might be going on there because i wish i could do something , i'd be grateful for any suggestions.
Hi Bobbie - it does sound like it's a nesting crow - they like to nest in the tops of trees and i would say that the 'kaw-ing' you are hearing is simply a territorial call, announcing its presence. Birds often choose the highest point in an area to make their calls so that the sound will travel further.
If it was a distress call due to a nest raid it wouldn't go on for 3 days - it would certainly occur at the time of the raid and would be intense for a while but then they would simply get back on with re-building or re-laying
I appreciate it's not the prettiest of calls but i would suggest it is merely a communication to other crows in the area
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Hi LRB thank you so much for the answer to my question i believe your right as the Kaw-ing is still going on very vocal indeed but i can tolerate that now i know the bird is alright. Thanks again.