heron

[lozzzz]

the other evening I saw several crows mobbing a heron in flight,what would have been the likely outcome would they have just chased it off or worse?

[Cetti]

Don't worry Iozzzz, after they had made their point the Crows would have left the Heron to go on its way in peace. Rarely does 'mobbing' have a detrimental effect on the 'victim' except in a few very rare circumstances when a bird is driven to exhaustion and falls in a river and drowns.

Loads of theories concerning 'mobbing'. The main one is a learned behaviour when a supposed predator comes near the nest and this is the means of protection. Another is that Crows are the bully boys of the bird world and do it just to show off their air superiority knowing that the victim cannot or will not retaliate.  The other day I was rather pleased to see a Buzzard turn on a Crow who was giving him a hard time!

[sglazier]

I saw about fifty seagulls chasing a heron round and round for some minutes pecking its feathers, they all flew away so I don't know if the heron was alright.. Perhaps herons are the least popular amongst the bird community and are obnoxious or rude to all the other species. Its possible