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Here's a story a couple years old about a little girl in Seattle who dropped food the crows picked up and then began a relationship. The family has catalogued neatly the numerous gifts the crows have given to the little girl. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31604026
We put some food and water out for birds and small wildlife. A few crows show up rarely but occasionally. They don't seem to like anything we have. They look around a bit and fly off.
Here's a story a couple years old about a little girl in Seattle who dropped food the crows picked up and then began a relationship. The family has catalogued neatly the numerous gifts the crows have given to the little girl. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31604026
We put some food and water out for birds and small wildlife. A few crows show up rarely but occasionally. They don't seem to like anything we have. They look around a bit and fly off.
That is a sobering thought. They eat live chickens out in the run or on free range. They peck the eyes out of lambs in the field.
We eat far more chickens and lambs than crows do. Doesn't really seem fair to judge them for it.
I had a resident raven near my house for years. I was happy to have him around - he spooked the other birds and critters out of my garden. He also liked to slide on snowpiles, which was fun to watch.
Since Ravens have come into the discussion, I'm posting one of my personal stories about a very special one and the crows that were trying to harm him.
A Raven in Distress
Many years ago, on an August day with the temperature at about 95 degrees, the largest raven I've ever seen, flew near our house. It was being aggressively attacked by three crows, which jabbed it hard as they swooped around it. They drove it to the ground and it seemed as though they wanted to kill it. Then, it saw me and quickly flew over and landed on the edge of our roof, next to me. It was apparently intelligent enough to realize that the crows wouldn't come close to me and that my presence offered a refuge.
It was exhausted and overheated, so I told it to sit tight and got it a bowl of cold water, which it eagerly drained. It showed no fear of me at all. Then I brought it a handful of raw hamburger, which it gobbled in a few seconds. Next, it ate a can of catfood and then drank a saucer of milk. After that, it flew into a backyard maple tree, where it was much cooler. I climbed up onto a platform that I'd built in the tree long before and sat on its edge.
The raven came down to a limb right next to me. It talked to me in a series of many little clicks, clucks, and countless other sounds. It resembled a language, in my thinking. We carried on a conversation for half an hour. This congenial bird seemed to enjoy it, when I reached out and stroked the feathers on its neck and head. This is something many birds do to their mates and other feathered friends. Then, it flew up, croaking what may have been a goodby. I got some binoculars and followed its flight for three miles, up into the Coburg Hills, near Armitage Park, northeast of Eugene.
I never saw it again. I had been thinking that it might have made other human friends and perhaps lived with them. But its strong and steady flight into the hills, gave me some doubt about this and I think it was likely a completely wild bird. But it was one who could recognize a friend, when it really needed one.
It was the picture of a beggar in the Painted Desert that we took back in 2002. I thought that it might have hung around with 'Lodestar's' dancing crow? You're welcome! Come to think about it; this was a singer and not a dancer!
Since Ravens have come into the discussion, I'm posting one of my personal stories about a very special one and the crows that were trying to harm him.
A Raven in Distress
Many years ago, on an August day with the temperature at about 95 degrees, the largest raven I've ever seen, flew near our house. It was being aggressively attacked by three crows, which jabbed it hard as they swooped around it. They drove it to the ground and it seemed as though they wanted to kill it. Then, it saw me and quickly flew over and landed on the edge of our roof, next to me. It was apparently intelligent enough to realize that the crows wouldn't come close to me and that my presence offered a refuge.
It was exhausted and overheated, so I told it to sit tight and got it a bowl of cold water, which it eagerly drained. It showed no fear of me at all. Then I brought it a handful of raw hamburger, which it gobbled in a few seconds. Next, it ate a can of catfood and then drank a saucer of milk. After that, it flew into a backyard maple tree, where it was much cooler. I climbed up onto a platform that I'd built in the tree long before and sat on its edge.
The raven came down to a limb right next to me. It talked to me in a series of many little clicks, clucks, and countless other sounds. It resembled a language, in my thinking. We carried on a conversation for half an hour. This congenial bird seemed to enjoy it, when I reached out and stroked the feathers on its neck and head. This is something many birds do to their mates and other feathered friends. Then, it flew up, croaking what may have been a goodby. I got some binoculars and followed its flight for three miles, up into the Coburg Hills, near Armitage Park, northeast of Eugene.
I never saw it again. I had been thinking that it might have made other human friends and perhaps lived with them. But its strong and steady flight into the hills, gave me some doubt about this and I think it was likely a completely wild bird. But it was one who could recognize a friend, when it really needed one.
What an amazing and beautiful experience. Thanks for sharing.
Crows, ravens and jays are so intelligent they think up leisure activities. I once spent a hilarious hour watching two ravens sitting on a wire that ran over a pen full of domestic turkeys. The ravens took turns dropping down to the ground where they would pick up a pebble, fly over the turkeys and drop the pebble. If the pebble hit one of the turkeys it would squak and start running around and all the others would join in the panic. The ravens would watch from the wire until things quieted down and then repeat the process. Careful observation showed that they were indeed taking turns and the fact that they repeated the activity over and over convinced me that it was purely for entertainment.
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