My conversation with a crow
My neighborhood hosts countless birds, e.g. pigeons, sparrows, starlings, and seagulls. I also see (and hear) a fair amount of blue jays, robins, and crows. Once in a while, I catch a glimpse of something more unusual, e.g. cardinals, hawks, and kestrels.
Recently, my block was home to a drastic and loud increase in crows. They were everywhere — talking up a storm. Some of their calls were sounds I’ve never heard from them before. So, I decided to ask them what’s up.
When I saw two vociferous crows sitting atop a building, I sent them my thoughts: “What’s going on? Why so many of you — and so loud? Please include me in your conversations.”
They yelled in my general direction and I moved on.
The next day, I was seated at my desk in my living room when I heard the loudest crow calls ever. Very slowly, I turned around to peek into my bedroom and out the bedroom window.
On my fire escape was a massive crow, gazing into my apartment and cawing as if its life depended on it. I’ve lived here for many years and never once has a crow visited my fire escape.
I moved cautiously to my feet and inched closer to the bedroom doorway. I spoke to the crow aloud: “Thanks for hearing me! You can hang out here anytime. Please tell me what’s going on. You can trust me.”
It kept looking at me and yelling as I urged it to let me get closer but, eventually, it flew away. I got a blurry photo of my corvid friend taking off (below):
I translated the message as something like: “Figure it out, buddy! Do some work and look it up!”
So I did.
I learned that crows travel in flocks of extended family members. They talk to each other constantly and the juveniles make unusual sounds because they can be sort of needy and whiny.
If the flock discerns an area to have ample food and water, it will move in and you will notice them. They vocalize often to stay in touch with each other, to warn of potential danger, and also to let other birds know there’s a new sheriff in town.
Needless to say, I’m thrilled.
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I love crows. They're so interesting. I'd love to befriend some of them. Perhaps the large, talkative one was trying to befriend you. Or maybe had some opinions about your Substack?
Birds are fascinating