We All Like Shiny Things
This will be my first post since I came up with a direction for this blog, and the direction is all things northern Minnesota. I guess ten years of waffling between topics on my blog was long enough. I felt it was time to make a commitment, and since this blog is a hobby it only makes sense to steer it in a fun direction. Well, what is more fun for a nature nerd than learning about the forests, places, people and events that make northern Minnesota unique?
It was my intention to kick off this blog with a post about one of my favorite places, but since we aren't supposed to be going places right now I decided to jump ahead to a topic that pretty much any person in Minnesota can experience from their own deck. What is one thing we probably all have in common? If we listen hard enough we could all probably hear the shrill call of the American Crow by the end of the day. Though often seen as a nuisance, I for one have been intrigued by these birds for years. Not only do they have an eye for pretty things, which they collect in their nests, but they also have proven themselves smart enough to prosper nearly any where they land. Through the years they have frequently been used in literature as symbols of the unknown, sometimes even as messengers from another world. This goes to show that like it or not, we have known there is something special about these birds for a long time.
It was my intention to kick off this blog with a post about one of my favorite places, but since we aren't supposed to be going places right now I decided to jump ahead to a topic that pretty much any person in Minnesota can experience from their own deck. What is one thing we probably all have in common? If we listen hard enough we could all probably hear the shrill call of the American Crow by the end of the day. Though often seen as a nuisance, I for one have been intrigued by these birds for years. Not only do they have an eye for pretty things, which they collect in their nests, but they also have proven themselves smart enough to prosper nearly any where they land. Through the years they have frequently been used in literature as symbols of the unknown, sometimes even as messengers from another world. This goes to show that like it or not, we have known there is something special about these birds for a long time.
Though most people have probably turned their faces to the sky and yelled "Shut the hell up!" at a crow at some point, the truth is they are resilient and intelligent animals, not to mention social. They are capable of remembering the faces of specific people and whether or not that person was kind to them. Is there anything more frightening than the idea of a crow holding a grudge against you? A certain famous poem comes to mind about the crows cousin, the Raven. One of my favorite lines is: his eyes have all the seeming of a daemon's that is dreaming
Of course I'm talking about The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe, and if you want a refresher here it is:
One thing this poem got right was the raven's ability to speak, or at least imitate speech, though I'll admit the word 'nevermore' sounds like kind of a mouthful for a bird. Ravens and crows have been known to imitate not only human speech, but animal calls too. Ravens have even been observed imitating wolves to draw them to a carcass that they are unable to break open on their own.
But despite their intelligence we humans still have had a long standing distaste for crows. Past generations even tried to exterminate them! One such method was to use dynamite in their roosting places. I guess you can't keep a good bird down though because their numbers never really faltered and today they are found in every one of the lower forty-eight states and most of the Canadian provinces. When I think of the war on crows, I'm reminded of my grandpa, who was a farmer. He used to say that if you could kill one crow and display its body somehow the other crows would stay away, but killing even one crow was no easy feat. In fact, I don't think I ever remember actually seeing a dead crow. Maybe he and the crows came to some kind of agreement.
One of the keys to their great success is their ability to adapt to change. As our population has grown, so has theirs. They are good scavengers and because of that they are always found where we are. Their diet doesn't consist of just garbage though. They are omnivores and will eat fruit and seeds, along with insects, snails, frogs and snakes, and let's not forget about carrion. It is also not uncommon for them to eat the eggs and the hatchlings of other species of birds. Though it's hard to defend anything that eats babies, this is a common occurrence among many birds. In their own nests, crows typically lay 4 to 6 eggs each spring. The eggs are a grey/ green color with splotches of brown. Incubation period is a short eighteen days. Once the little eggies hatch, the ugly little babes are fed by both mom and dad and maybe even a helper bird until they reach the age of 4- 5 weeks. At that point they are kicked out and must make their own way.
You might hear stories about people finding baby crows on the ground and bringing them home. Sounds like a great idea, but if you don't teach them how to pick berries and find worms for themselves you are probably going to have a pet crow for about eight years, which is their average life span. In these situations, where crows live closely with humans, it's common for them to start picking up on words and repeating them back to us. Here is a link to a short video I found about a group of baby crows rescued and eventually reintroduced to the wild. The crows were called "The Freds"and now they return every year to say "hello" to their rescuers.
And here is another video of a woman who rescued a baby crow. This crow, Fagin, seems to have grown accustomed to frappuccino and dog treats, so he may end up staying a house pet, to the dismay of the family dog.
As far as their behavior goes, we know they are social animals. You could even call them the extroverts of the avian kingdom. They are unafraid of their own voices and always willing to defend themselves. They can commonly be seen chasing much larger birds such as hawks, owls and even eagles out of their territory. This trait, coupled with their undeniable intelligence is probably why they are so prevalent, and why they have been here so long. DNA suggests that they have been here for 30 million years. That's half way between modern mankind and the extinction of the dinosaurs!
But I'd like to leave you with the experience that got me to appreciate crows in the first place. If you've ever lived in a big city maybe you've witnessed it yourself. When I was living in the Twin Cities I noticed on several occasions that at dusk crows would fly in from all directions and congregate in the trees of one park or another. Their "conversation" was deafening and would last anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour. Then, all at once they would disperse and fly off in every direction. The sky would be filled with the sounds of feathers and the shadows of wings. For a nature nerd stuck in the city it was moving to watch. I've seen the same thing in Seattle,WA and Austin,TX, but the Minneapolis flock, or murder as a group of crows is called, is so large it's kind of famous. By that I mean they have their own Facebook page called South Minneapolis Crows: The Mega Murder. This murder consists of up to 10,000 birds. That's pretty huge, like ten of my home towns. If you're ever able this it is worth it, just try not to park your car beneath them.
Thanks for reading!
Sources:
www.allaboutbirds.org
www.audobon.org
www.ebird.org
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