If you haven’t read Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton, run down to Powell’s and get a copy. You'll love the hero of this apocalyptic story: a talking crow named S.T.
On another note, I had a friend whose mother would call her neighborhood crow to the kitchen window and tell the crow to find her cat and call him home for dinner. I don’t remember the names of the crow or cat, but they both followed instructions. You had to see it to believe it.
Love this story, Amy! Here in Ohio, we have a family of crows that visit, and let me know they want peanuts by flying by my window while I am working. A few flybys and they have me trained to do whatever they want. And yes, I have seen the crows chase the hawks, and then other times I think they are playing together. Maybe it's both things, depending on the mood of the day.
Are you familiar with Ted Hughes’ book of poetry called, um, Crow? I read it for a class in college, and it’s bloody brilliant. But here’s the salient part: While I was taking the class I was walking home from breakfast in the cafeteria (those were the days) and saw a familiar black form winging overhead. I looked up to find Corvus flapping contentedly along with a giant glazed doughnut in his greedy beak. Ted Hughes missed that one! I wrote about it here, if you’re interested.
What a fascinating article, thank you for sharing so much interesting information and your art. I’m looking forward to my new subscription for the year with you.
We just returned from a few days in Sacramento, which has a similar crow "situation". We went to Sac to enjoy the Sandhill Cranes that winter nearby. Just as much as seeing the cranes, we enjoyed the crow call to roost every evening over our rental house, flying in groups of about 24. Wave after wave of cawing crows overhead. On a walk at dusk, we were able to follow them to their roost, which is between J and K streets on 10th street. Amazing.
I just loved this story. I have been hiking weekly with a park naturalist for the past year and have delighted into being more attuned to the subtleties of Nature, those regular and ordinary things we too often overlook.
My crow story is when I was sitting at a stop light in suburbia and huge birds swooped into the empty intersection. It was two crows chasing a bald eagle! Most of the community has noticed an uptick in eagles around here (they nest in area parks and woodlands) but it is still a thrill to see one in the wild! We have an affection for our National Bird but in truth the eagle is a threat to the crows, so it was a justifiable chase. I was kind of hoping they all left unscathed but Nature is as Nature does, even if it's not pretty to our eyes.
BTW I have steady crows who come to my backyard and craak, craak talk about me when I go past them each day. I feel so judged!
I maintain a black sunflower seed feeder, a cracked corn feeder and suet in my yard for birds. The crows being bigger and seemingly more aggressive than all the other birds I want to have access to the seeds, etc were a problem. I read that if I hung a fake crow upside down in my yard it would deter the crows as they would deem it to be a dead crow and avoid the area. I tried it. It works!
If you haven’t read Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton, run down to Powell’s and get a copy. You'll love the hero of this apocalyptic story: a talking crow named S.T.
On another note, I had a friend whose mother would call her neighborhood crow to the kitchen window and tell the crow to find her cat and call him home for dinner. I don’t remember the names of the crow or cat, but they both followed instructions. You had to see it to believe it.
Love this story, Amy! Here in Ohio, we have a family of crows that visit, and let me know they want peanuts by flying by my window while I am working. A few flybys and they have me trained to do whatever they want. And yes, I have seen the crows chase the hawks, and then other times I think they are playing together. Maybe it's both things, depending on the mood of the day.
Are you familiar with Ted Hughes’ book of poetry called, um, Crow? I read it for a class in college, and it’s bloody brilliant. But here’s the salient part: While I was taking the class I was walking home from breakfast in the cafeteria (those were the days) and saw a familiar black form winging overhead. I looked up to find Corvus flapping contentedly along with a giant glazed doughnut in his greedy beak. Ted Hughes missed that one! I wrote about it here, if you’re interested.
https://petermoore.substack.com/publish/posts/detail/54624300/share-center
Oh, and your crow paintings are gorgeous. Just the right sheen of blue!
Your enthusiasm for life is infectious. Thanks so much for your emails bringing curiosity, beauty and joy into my day.
What a fascinating article, thank you for sharing so much interesting information and your art. I’m looking forward to my new subscription for the year with you.
We just returned from a few days in Sacramento, which has a similar crow "situation". We went to Sac to enjoy the Sandhill Cranes that winter nearby. Just as much as seeing the cranes, we enjoyed the crow call to roost every evening over our rental house, flying in groups of about 24. Wave after wave of cawing crows overhead. On a walk at dusk, we were able to follow them to their roost, which is between J and K streets on 10th street. Amazing.
I just loved this story. I have been hiking weekly with a park naturalist for the past year and have delighted into being more attuned to the subtleties of Nature, those regular and ordinary things we too often overlook.
My crow story is when I was sitting at a stop light in suburbia and huge birds swooped into the empty intersection. It was two crows chasing a bald eagle! Most of the community has noticed an uptick in eagles around here (they nest in area parks and woodlands) but it is still a thrill to see one in the wild! We have an affection for our National Bird but in truth the eagle is a threat to the crows, so it was a justifiable chase. I was kind of hoping they all left unscathed but Nature is as Nature does, even if it's not pretty to our eyes.
BTW I have steady crows who come to my backyard and craak, craak talk about me when I go past them each day. I feel so judged!
Great story and always love your gouache paintings.
I maintain a black sunflower seed feeder, a cracked corn feeder and suet in my yard for birds. The crows being bigger and seemingly more aggressive than all the other birds I want to have access to the seeds, etc were a problem. I read that if I hung a fake crow upside down in my yard it would deter the crows as they would deem it to be a dead crow and avoid the area. I tried it. It works!
Wonderful post! Hoo boy indeed if you’re a little bird and a hawk goes by. Thank you!