Most mornings I like to sit outside in my yard with a cup of coffee and watch the birds at my feeding station. One morning last week I had been outside for a little while when a trio of American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) came along wanting to eat. I often see crows eating after I have gone inside, but they almost never come down when I’m outside. Instead, they sit up in the trees and yell at me. I guess they think that if they shriek at me long enough, I’ll decide to go away. The alpha bird also is warning the rest of the group that it isn’t safe to go down right now. That’s actually what this bird was doing. His companions were obviously younger or more submissive birds and they followed his lead the entire time they were out there. The two other birds were relatively quiet most of the time, except for occasionally screaming at me. When the alpha bird flew to another tree, the other two followed. When the alpha decided that I wasn’t listening very well and wasn’t leaving any time soon, he decided to take off. The other two obediently followed. I’m sure they came back later and got their meal after I did go inside. Crows are very intelligent, and watching their behavior is always quite interesting.