The way of the Crow - Maree

"If men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be clever enough to be crows."
-Rev. Henry Ward Beecher mid 1800's





There is little wonder that crows are very often the subjects of legends, folktales, and storytelling traditions around the world, all of which is very deep-seated and arising from myth and folklore thousands of years old. Anyone that has ever spent time with a crow will know how absurd these myths are and that Crows are no more 'evil' or 'dark' as depicted in these legends than a canary in a cage.


I make those remarks in light of the life I shared with Coco, a Black Crow (Corvus capensis), over the span of twenty years. She was keen of sight and hearing, and her other senses were no less acute. As was her sense of humour! She loved to mimic men laughing, producing the exact deep resonance of the male voice. She would also have a conversation with herself, changing voices as she went along, which she reproduced from the garden staff talking to one another. Another favourite of hers was hooting like a car, getting everyone in the household to go outside to see who has arrived. She would also call someone by their name at the top of her voice, also getting that person rushing outside to see who was calling, then uttering a long, low laugh, as if enjoying the havoc she's causing.


She loved to play tag, pretending to peck your foot, getting you to chase her around the garden. And of course, one 'myth' that is absolutely true, is a Crow's love for shiny stuff. No tea tray was safe unattended outside, as all the spoons would disappear and any jewellery lying around the house was at great risk!


A valuable lesson we could all learn from a crow is that they never "stuff" themselves with food. She would only eat until she was satisfied and then take the rest and hide it all over the garden, ready to be picked up at a later stage.


It is this kind of sensitivity that makes crows and other corvids legendary birds.


Coco passed away at the age of 27 after a stroke and I can honestly say no other animal enriched my life like she did.


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A Gathering in the cold - Maree

 

Ink sketch and watercolour in DalerRowney 220gsm Nature Journal 

Freezing cold weather here in South Africa and on the way to Magaliesburg to buy some new art materials I was wondering why all these crows were gathering on the telephone lines. Maybe some carrion just out of sight behind the shrubs...? Or were they just basking in the sun for warmth? 

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Watch what you believe - Maree

This was Coco's (my Crow and companion for 20 years) typical stance when she was relaxing, and to me seemed wistful, pensive and deep in thought. I'm sure crows can be deep in thought - she certainly had enough to ponder - whether she should go into the kitchen and beg a tit-bit, where next to dig up my seedlings in the garden, which of the dogs to harass by pulling their tails or stealing their food or even wandering into the bedroom or bathroom to collect some items to stash up her tree.

Crows often appear in groups and I've often wondered if she missed the company of other crows. Though there seems to be no variation in their caw-ing to each other, each caw actually has a different meaning. I would immediately know when she's hungry by the caw she uttered and their complex vocabulary is one sign of their intelligence, and is also a sign of their significance as power animals. When a crow explores something new, others watch closely to see what happens and then learn from it. They often make great noise when hunters are around, warning the animals and other birds. Crows recognise potential danger and hence always post lookouts when feeding. This is their most vulnerable time. This helps us understand that we must watch what we believe, to test our habitual ideas about reality against a more universal standard.

Coco passed away at the age of 27 after a stroke and I can honestly say no other animal enriched my life like she did.

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A Murder of Crows

Ink, watercolor, pencil, colored pencil

This one's watercolor pencil

Out here where I live, in a small town about 38 miles from Kansas City, we usually see shy crows in much lower numbers--5 seems to be a lot, up in the trees beyond my house.  When we looked up to see hundreds of them winging homeward the other afternoon, we were amazed at the numbers--and at their relative silence.  Here, they tend to be a bit on the raucous side, if shy of humans.  I generally know they're about from their harsh caws.

Click the link to hear the variety of sounds they make.

And why are they called a murder of crows when they gather in numbers?  Here's one explanation:
http://www.grammarphobia.com/blogger-blog/2008/01/murder-of-crows.html

They're smart birds...here are a couple of articles demonstrating just HOW smart:
http://www.examiner.com/environmental-news-in-kansas-city/education-is-even-for-the-crows


Joshua Klein on the intelligence of crows:  http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/joshua_klein_on_the_intelligence_of_crows.html

Crows have made PBS and YouTube, too!  PBS A Murder of Crows
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfI5-RWC-QQ

Crows and re-scanned Blue Duck

I enjoyed a bit of time outside, soaking up the sun. No real spring colors to paint so I didn't even think about sketching until a small family of crows showed up. They are soooo much fun!

I found time to re-scan the Blue Duck ATC. I found by adjusting the histogram scale on the scanner controls, I was able to save the details in the dark areas.

Crows at dusk - Maree Clarkson

full moon | wide awake | 'til dawn

A Twitter poem from WATERMARK

"Crows at Dusk"

I can assure you this is not my dark side emerging! I had a Black Crow as a pet for 20 years (she was 27 when she died) and I absolutely love these endearing and highly intelligent birds.


"CoCo" my Black Crow - She used to take this stance and make a ka-ka-ka sound, like the horn of a car. It must be a natural sound of theirs, because I've heard crows in the wild doing the same thing. She lived with me for 20 years and was 7 years old when I got her.

Quick sketches from the West

I still do some car sketching, but only when Joseph's driving! This is in the desert somewhere between Henderson, Nevada, and LA...I love crows, and I always know I can count on them congregating at rest stops in the desert, where people = food! They're quite bold...Corvidae are normally fairly cautious, since humans seem not to appreciate them properly, but these guys are SO over it! Regular western outlaws...

So of course I used my Pentel Pocketbrush to catch those bold black shapes!

Check the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for more on crows...including a recording of their distinctive voices.