Image courtesy of Brandon Butler
A photographer recently caught sight of an unlikely encounter when he stumbled onto a confrontation between a group, or murder, of crows and an otter.
The aggressive fowls were in a face-off with the solitary otter, who appeared defenceless.
The unfriendly meeting took place on 2 Sept at around 2pm, as posted on the SG Wildlife Sightings Facebook group.
Image courtesy of Brandon Butler
Mr Brandon Butler, an American teacher and nature photographer living in Singapore, was at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve when he heard crows making a racket nearby.
Mr Butler ignored it at first, taking photos of other things. After about 10 minutes, he rounded a bend and found a large group of crows along the path.
He told MS News that the otter then appeared in his view, looking weak and vulnerable.
The otter lay on its side as the numerous crows ganged up on it, making loud noises.
As he didn’t have time to set up his camera or change the settings, Mr Butler acknowledged that he didn’t get “very good photos”. He added: “I just started snapping super fast.”
Image courtesy of Brandon Butler
A photo showed the otter surrounded on the path. Quite a few crows stood in a line on the fence overlooking their furry opponent.
The murder of crows didn’t physically attack the otter, but they swooped in at it repeatedly.
According to Mr Butler, the otter appeared to be cowering at their scare tactics.
Image courtesy of Brandon Butler
He said that he initially thought it was dying or injured and the crows were going to eat it.
All of them stopped for a moment and turned to look at Mr Butler when they noticed him.
The otter then scurried off the bridge and into the water below to escape its harassers. The crows followed to make sure it had left.
Mr Butler speculated that the otter could have been raiding crow’s nest for eggs, which ignited the conflict. The birds then defended their territory, harassing the otter until it ran off.
Image courtesy of Brandon Butler
With their initial target gone, the crows proceeded to turn their attention to Mr Butler.
He said that a few of the birds flew close to him, and they stayed around making loud noises until he left.
“I felt like the crows were worried about me,” he told MS News.
In a short video of the aftermath, which he shared, the crows had moved off the path and were resting on the trees next to Mr Butler.
They made frequent calls and flew in groups from tree to tree nearby.
Image courtesy of Brandon Butler
“Crows can be awful when they gang up,” one netizen commented, adding: “Sad that the otter was on his own.”
Source: Facebook
Another user suggested that a baby crow could be on the ground nearby.
This caused the Sungei Buloh crows to become very defensive, pestering the otter until it left the area to ensure their young’s safety.
Source: Facebook
Mr Butler, who has lived in Singapore for more than a year, said it was his first time seeing an otter-crow confrontation.
Similar incidents had been recorded before. In Jan 2022, a user posted videos of several crows hounding two otters at Pandan Reservoir to the SG Wildlife Sightings Facebook group.
A commenter on Mr Butler’s post wrote that crows appear to have problems with otters and become on edge if they are nearby.
Source: Facebook
Also read: Crows attack at least 4 residents in Tampines, leaves 1 with bleeding scalp
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Featured image courtesy of Brandon Butler.
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