Association between species may strengthen the fitness of the species involved It is not rare that avian species associate on the breeding and feeding grounds. However, a species associated with a potential egg predator is less common. In this study, a synchronized breeding of Indian House Crow (Corvus splendens) and breeding Indian Pond Herons (Ardeola grayii) in urban conditions is reported. Both the crow abundance and the crow nest abundance increased with the number of heronry nests on sites. Crows were mostly observed when flying over or when resting nearby, but they also attempted egg predation from heronry nests. Crows also used the heronry sites for collecting nesting resources, such as twigs, scavenging dead chicks and for stealing the food brought to feed the heronry chicks. A dearth of suitable nesting places and provisions in an urban environment may be the reason why these birds share nesting trees. Vigilant breeding crows, despite their ability to depredate heron nests, may be more beneficial to herons as they are known to mob and distract heron predators, but a full cost-benefit analysis needs to be undertaken.

物种之间的联系可能会增强所涉物种的适应性。禽类物种在繁殖和摄食场上相互联系并不罕见。但是，与潜在的鸡蛋捕食者相关的物种却很少见。在本研究中，同步繁殖了印度家鸦（Corvus splendens）和印度池塘鹭（Ardeola grayii）。）在城市条件下报道。乌鸦的数量和乌鸦巢的数量都随着站点上鹭巢数量的增加而增加。乌鸦通常在飞过或在附近休息时被观察到，但它们也试图从鹭巢中捕食卵。乌鸦还利用苍鹭的产地收集筑巢资源，例如树枝，清理死去的雏鸡，以及偷走带给鹭鸟雏鸡的食物。在城市环境中缺少合适的筑巢地点和设施可能是这些鸟类共用筑巢树的原因。警惕的繁殖乌鸦尽管具有淘汰鹭巢的能力，但由于它们能够诱捕和分散鹭鸟的掠食者，因此它们可能对鹭鸟更为有利，但仍需进行全面的成本效益分析。