We were walking down the back lane (less mosquitos that way) and a crow that was on the hydro wire started cawing at two crows eating garbage on the ground. I happen to know that all these crows are named Sam (moniker given by my neighbour, Jen, who can't tell them apart), and that they nested in a tree on my block. One of them is a juvenile, which I know by the colour of its eyes and the way the other two treat it.
This morning, the two crows on the ground lifted up to the wire before I could figure out which was which. But I knew who Daddy Sam was because I stopped Lexi so that I could look at them, and he started crying like a baby. Like a human baby. Was the most surreal thing to hear that sound coming out of his beak.
Last week, Jen told me that Daddy Sam had been barking at her cat. It sounded so much like a small dog that she at first couldn't figure out why a dog was up a tree. Unfortunately for Sam, Jen's cat is deaf, so his amazing ability to mimic was lost on the cat.
I have long loved crows, but have had very little real experience with them. Almost had a nest outside my bedroom window once, but one crow was killed by a car before eggs were laid. Read Crow Planet earlier this year, and wished I could have a relationship with a crow like the author had. Then again, I know two people who have been pooped on by crows...
The Nature of Things had a fantastic documentary on crows earlier this year, which you can watch online if you are inclined. I liked walking under the crows this morning knowing that they would remember me and my dog, and be able to pick me out of a crown next time they see me. I'm probably more known to them than they are to me.
Even if you are a crow hater (and there are many of those in the world), you have to agree they are interesting and incredible birds. I offer Betty as proof:
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