Ode To The Crow

The secret lives of other species never cease to amaze this human being. Lately, I have been completely smitten by the intelligence of the crow. Crows are common birds in Western Canada. For centuries, humans have gaged the changing of the seasons by the arrival of crows in vast flocks in early spring and then again when they gather and leave in late fall. The arrival of the crows is always a gleeful celebration and the leaving of the crows a time of mourning the blissful summer’s end. As the ebony birds depart the soon to be alabaster fields, we fear the return of perhaps another wicked winter.

This past summer the common crow has surprised me. I have watched its cousin, the raven, frolic about, reversing its body mid-flight and gliding upside down for the simple thrill of it. But for the most part, crows have seemed less mischievous and a little more busy and serious.

However, a single crow that frequents my parents riverbank yard in Kamloops, BC has commanded my attention.

This wondrous crow flies into my parents yard, perches on their fence and squawks, “Hello,” to them several times a week. I was fortunate to be visiting their home on one such occasion. I heard the distinctive, “Hello! Hello!” coming from the back yard and thought my mom was in a strange mood and talking to herself. I walked outside to witness the talking crow myself. My parents always say, “Hello!” back to it. I ran inside to grab a video camera to record its greetings but it flew away as I approached with the camera.

This crow’s genius doesn’t stop there. My father often travels across the river and up on a hill-top to the Thompson River University. Last month he was sitting outside on campus, with a coffee in hand, when a crow flew up to him, perched near his chair and said, “Hello!” to him. The crow recognized my dad in a totally new context!

Last week in my home town of Kelowna, BC, we had a freak hail storm. Kelowna almost never has a hail storm and especially of such intensity. The hail came down fast and furious. The stones were the size of large marbles. Many of the valley orchardists lost their entire crop of apples and cherries. The hail was so large that I did not let my dogs out for fear it could seriously damage them if it hit their heads.

Just as the hail stopped and the clouds parted to reveal a blue sky, it was time for me to head out with my daughters in the car to gather craft supplies for a project that needed to be completed that evening (posters for my parents anniversary party). As my car reached the valley, I noticed the trees along the creek bank were filled with crows and in the sky, hundreds of crows were making their way, from all directions, to the trees by the creek. I stopped the car to watch this unusual gathering of crows.

It was suddenly clear to me, what was happening with the crows. They were gathering, after the violent hail storm, to meet kin and check out who survived the storm. They gathered for some time and then slowly began to depart again, for their various locations across the city.

How the crows knew where to meet after the storm, I do not know. How many survived the storm, I know not either. But what I do know is that the crows have a society we know little about: how they communicate, familial attachments and more.

Crows are amazingly curious and intelligent creatures and I hope to get to know some of them a little better in this life time.