The More You Know

Savage. Today I witnessed something that I had never seen before.  As I was walking into the office I noticed a bird. It was obvious that it was in distress. It fluttered, it hopped but to no avail… again it ended up on either it’s back or its belly. I just assumed that it had either flown into the window or the brick post. I thought to myself, it's just dazed, it will fly away in a few minutes. I stepped into the office and continued to watch as it continued to struggle. Two smaller brown birds landed beside the injured bird, they seemed to cheer him on. Their chirps seemed to be those of encouragement but the injured bird only chirped louder... either in pain or frustration. Maybe it was a bit of both. Then it happened. Two crows landed beside the helpless bird. I’m not sure where they came from but now one was on each side of it. The crows watched the struggling bird. The bird begin to flutter rapidly. Fear. Suddenly the crow to the left of the bird hopped forward and pecked the bird. Soon after the crow to the right did the same. They were pecking the poor bird and all it could do was roll from its back, to its side or to its belly. Then two smaller brown birds returned but they were no match for the crows. I went to the back of the office and got settled. I couldn’t believe what I had seen. A few hours later I went back up to the front of the office. I looked out the window and saw the injured bird in a lifeless ball. I said, "Oh  no, he died." The office coordinator said, “Yes, those crows pecked him to death.” We were both in shock. That poor bird! I didn’t know crows were so vicious. I had to do a little research when I got home and apparently, it’s not a rare occurrence at all. In fact, crows are omnivores; they eat both plants and meat. They’ve always been and why would I expect my lack of knowledge to change that?