Pyro_PK
05-25-2009, 09:37 AM
I saw something yesterday outside of my fire station that was quite amazing, and for me, the first time I THOUGHT I had seen it in nature. It looked like a gang fight between different types of birds was occurring. It lasted more than 10 minutes.
Two grouse were the center of attention of the chaos. They were obviously flexing their dominance for the females to a degree of anger I had never seen before. Not because they were actually wrestling on the ground, but because of the heightened level of UNENDING aggression between them. The noise generated from the fight is what had actually gained my attention while I was inside of the building and caused me to go outside to investigate the disturbance. Did just those two birds cause all of that noise? Not even close…
There were 3 female grouse that had already picked their favorite competitor in the fight. They were, at seemingly random times, dive-bombing the pair of brawlers either pecking or scratching the enemy of their chosen champion. Their heightened screeches of anger combined with their attacks did nothing more than exacerbate the situation.
There were also 4+ mockingbirds alit along the fence line close by and 5+ blue-jays who all bounced into and out of the battle arena, taking their shots at both the competitors and the females for whatever reasons they chose. I have never seen different families of animals get involved into a battle for dominance between members of another species before. It was nuts.
Then there was the quite large group of black birds that had crowded into remaining ‘seating’ scattered in the trees, hedges, and empty power lines. They didn’t get into the fight on the ground, but about 5 or 6 of them chased the loser out of the area once the battle on the ground had been decided.
Also present were 3 doves and a couple of robins, who had taken a spot on a power line across the street, who just sat and watched until the disturbance finally ended. Once the fight was over and the black birds had chased the loser out of the area, they took flight and left quietly.
The chaos didn’t end there... The remaining jays, mockingbirds, sparrows, and black birds sat there and screeched back and forth between themselves now, as opposed to just leaving like the robins & doves. Their anger had been raised watching the fight to a level that showed they were ready for more. Some of them actually looked like they were trying to pick another physical confrontation, but thankfully, to no avail.
Eventually it ended and got quiet.
Normally I wouldn’t bother you all with this story, but after sitting back on the porch afterwards I noticed a parallel with humanity in that chaos. I noticed the parallel with MANY of the threads on TWD. Perfectly calm disagreements turn ugly because of outside ‘birds’ stepping into it, or blasting on someone simply because they don’t see things your way OR because you just want to get into the fight.
I am guilty of being like a member of every bird present at that riot, and I have seen many experienced posters fall into the different profiles as well. We are not so different when it comes to instinct, but we are a huge step above the animal population when it comes our ability to CHOOSE how to handle conflict situations. We need to act more like the Robins & Doves… not like the rest of the mob.
Two grouse were the center of attention of the chaos. They were obviously flexing their dominance for the females to a degree of anger I had never seen before. Not because they were actually wrestling on the ground, but because of the heightened level of UNENDING aggression between them. The noise generated from the fight is what had actually gained my attention while I was inside of the building and caused me to go outside to investigate the disturbance. Did just those two birds cause all of that noise? Not even close…
There were 3 female grouse that had already picked their favorite competitor in the fight. They were, at seemingly random times, dive-bombing the pair of brawlers either pecking or scratching the enemy of their chosen champion. Their heightened screeches of anger combined with their attacks did nothing more than exacerbate the situation.
There were also 4+ mockingbirds alit along the fence line close by and 5+ blue-jays who all bounced into and out of the battle arena, taking their shots at both the competitors and the females for whatever reasons they chose. I have never seen different families of animals get involved into a battle for dominance between members of another species before. It was nuts.
Then there was the quite large group of black birds that had crowded into remaining ‘seating’ scattered in the trees, hedges, and empty power lines. They didn’t get into the fight on the ground, but about 5 or 6 of them chased the loser out of the area once the battle on the ground had been decided.
Also present were 3 doves and a couple of robins, who had taken a spot on a power line across the street, who just sat and watched until the disturbance finally ended. Once the fight was over and the black birds had chased the loser out of the area, they took flight and left quietly.
The chaos didn’t end there... The remaining jays, mockingbirds, sparrows, and black birds sat there and screeched back and forth between themselves now, as opposed to just leaving like the robins & doves. Their anger had been raised watching the fight to a level that showed they were ready for more. Some of them actually looked like they were trying to pick another physical confrontation, but thankfully, to no avail.
Eventually it ended and got quiet.
Normally I wouldn’t bother you all with this story, but after sitting back on the porch afterwards I noticed a parallel with humanity in that chaos. I noticed the parallel with MANY of the threads on TWD. Perfectly calm disagreements turn ugly because of outside ‘birds’ stepping into it, or blasting on someone simply because they don’t see things your way OR because you just want to get into the fight.
I am guilty of being like a member of every bird present at that riot, and I have seen many experienced posters fall into the different profiles as well. We are not so different when it comes to instinct, but we are a huge step above the animal population when it comes our ability to CHOOSE how to handle conflict situations. We need to act more like the Robins & Doves… not like the rest of the mob.