Terri was coming over to take Pat to an appointment. As she pulled into the driveway, Pat came out and headed for the car. Pat noticed there was a crow sitting on the roof across the street.  An hour or so later, the ladies had concluded their business, and were on the way home.

As they rounded the final corner and were coming down the block, Terri saw there was a crow flying just ahead of them. She glanced at the rear-view mirror and saw there were two more crows bringing up the rear. Terri turned into the driveway and Pat got out.  The crow on the roof across the street was watching them. Pat figured it was probably Boss Crow serving as lookout. Sure enough, he sounded the gathering food call “caw, caw, caw,  caw.”   

The lookout swooped down and landed near Pat, and, indeed, it was the Boss Crow because he began talking immediately. The other crows had responded to his call and landed a minute or so later. Pat went into the house, got some food, and came back out and fed the group. She and Terri went in the house, the birds had their snack, and everything was back to normal.

Dave Thomas

2/8/2024

What Did He Say?

The other morning, Pat stepped outside to get the mail. She noticed there was a crow in the liquid amber tree to the south of us. As they made eye contact, the crow let out a strange sound that Pat had never heard before. It was a deep, guttural sound. It was kind of like a belch, but had a ripple quality to it. Maybe “trill” would be a proper word. I don’t know, but she said it was very strange. Pat said, “Are you talking to me? What does that mean?”  Then, she tried to replicate the sound, but got no answer from the crow. Maybe it was speaking a German version of crow language?

Dave Thomas

2/8/2024

-If I was giving out awards today, I would give one to the person who invented the bow knot. Millions of us use the bow knot every day to tie our shoes. It’s so easy that little kids can do it. It’s kind of magical also. You can pull on either of the two loose strings, and the bow disappears, and you are left with a nice undamaged piece of string.

-Old age seems to warp your perspective. Life had an order to it. The people around you and the people in the news grew up, got older, and died of old age when they reached 60 or 70 years. That’s the way the progression worked. Now that I am 87, and I hear of people dying at 60 or 70, and the reason is said to be “old age,” it seems strange. What used to be ahead of me is now behind me. It’s like I am now looking at life and death through a rear view mirror.

-Marriage is one of those places where you ask a yes or no question and an essay answer.

-I wonder how you put a Mellow Tone Muffler on an electric car.

-I used to think of the Boeing Company as being one of the best. The software and the door patch that blew out now have me wondering. The accident investigators need to talk with the software engineers, the airframe engineers, the aircraft assemblers, and the quality control inspectors. They may be suffering from a diminished pride of workmanship. Higher stress levels caused by tighter budgets, higher quotas, short staffing, and a lack of respect from management, all due to worshipping the bottom line.

-Those of you who have been wondering what happened to the better country music people will be happy to know that I found a bunch of them. They were on Willie Nelson’s 90^th birthday show on TV.

-Smile. Open a door. Lend a hand. Do something nice for someone today.

Dave Thomas

2/1/2024

Nothing too exciting in the crow world this week. Just a couple of observations of their behavior.

The other morning, Pat had a 7:40 AM appointment with the dentist. Pat had been busy doing chores and getting herself ready and hadn’t fed the crows. About 7:00, Terri pulled into the driveway, and Pat went out to get in the car. The crows saw her, and when they realized she wasn’t bringing food, they really raised the devil. All of them were yelling as loud and as fast as they could. Pat and Terri ignored them and left. When they returned home, Pat went in and got the breakfast rations and went out and gave the food cry, “Caw caw caw caw.” The crows flew in and ate, and peace was restored.

The crows are becoming more comfortable with humans. They are learning about Pat and Terri as we learn about them. I suppose they feel that someone that gives them food can’t be all bad. These birds are smart and observant and have good memories. They know they can sit on the roof of the garage and see in through the picture window or through the screen door if the front door is open. They know that Terri comes in the car, and they respond to her if she gives the food call. They know that Pat lives in the house, and they watch for her movements inside. One new behavior they have started is to do a fly by near the picture window so they can see what is going on. Then, one crow is posted as a lookout in the tree across the street while the rest of them settle in the liquid amber tree to the south. When the lookout sees Pat come out the front door, it gives the food call. Then, all the crows swoop down onto the driveway for breakfast. It’s interesting to hear how they have jobs and take care of each other.

The crows don’t seem to mind if Pat stands just a few feet from them as they eat. And the Boss Crow gets within 3 feet of Pat when he wants to hold a conversation.

Dave Thomas

1/25/2024

We were worried. The crows hadn’t shown up for four days. It didn’t seem likely that all four of them would have been hurt or killed. They must be scouting for more food. Maybe they migrated south to Mexico. Maybe they went east to the Imperial Valley, a large agricultural area that has a different climate than we have here on the coast. The valley might have crops ripening that would appeal to our crow friends.

A few crows had shown up at different times, but Pat had decided that she would only feed “her” crows. Her crows were recognizable first by seeing the guy with the mangled foot, and next by the Boss Crow who was a boisterous talker and always had plenty to say to Pat.

I think it was the 5^th day that Terri was coming over. As she approached the house, she saw crows in the driveway. As she pulled in, the birds scattered and went to the nearby trees. Terri charged into the house and yelled, “The crows are back!”  She said, “I saw the guy with the mangled foot.” She and Pat rushed outside, and Pat gave the food call, “Caw, caw, caw, caw.” From a tree, they heard an answering “Caw, caw, caw, caw,” and the crows swooped down and landed on the driveway. The Boss Crow began talking to Pat, no doubt explaining where they had been for the last four days. He gets so excited when he is talking to Pat that you know he is imparting something that is really important to him.

Things are back to normal. There are always three birds for sure- Boss Crow, the one we think is his spouse, and the mangled foot guy. Sometimes, there are a 4^th and 5^th crow that we think may be offspring. There were 6th and 7^th crow today, but the Boss Crow didn’t seem too happy about it. He kept crowding them out of the immediate area. Two sparrows have been showing up the last couple of days, and they have been accepted.

Dave Thomas

1/16/2024

It’s been a lot of fun to try and understand what the crows mean by their actions and the noises they make. For instance, the four caw, “Caw, caw, caw, caw” seems to mean “food” or to be a summons to food or to meet up. We are still not sure what the fly by means. It could be a recognition and greeting, or they may just be looking things over. Hopefully, we will understand better as we see more of the crows.

The crows have a lot of ground to cover when hunting or scavenging. A block south of us is a big canyon with a highway running through it. It also contains plenty of trees and bushes and good ground cover. About a quarter mile north of us is another canyon that is also well-covered with vegetation. Between the two canyons is a strip mall that the crows like to check out. The situation must be pretty grim if the crows can’t find food in these locations, and they are forced to come to our house and beg.

Our daughter, Terri, lives just over a mile from us, so she comes over almost every day to check on us and help out. She takes us both to the doctor, buys groceries, and does a million other things to keep us going. I mention this because the crows see her, sometimes many times a day, parking in the driveway and getting out of her car. Also, she sometimes feeds the crows and gives the food call, “Caw, caw, caw, caw.” The crows recognize her as they do Pat.

Yesterday, Terri was coming over to our house. She came down the main thoroughfare and turned left onto the side street just before the mall. She travelled a couple of blocks and made a couple of turns before heading down the block to our house. Evidently, the crows had been circling the mall, and from their height, spotted her car. As Terri came down the block, she looked through her windshield and saw a crow flying just ahead of her.  She glanced up at her moonroof (sunroof?), and saw crows flying above her. When she turned into our driveway, the crows landed in the trees and started jabbering. She couldn’t believe that the crows had provided an airborne escort all the way down the block. You may think I am stretching things a bit, but I am being straight with you. Let me ask you this:  Have you ever seen anyone else with such an escort? Of course not. They did it because they recognized Terri and/or her car and thought they might be able to promote a snack.

Dave Thomas

1/11/2024

Pat scattered the food in the driveway, and four crows were enjoying their breakfast. Pat had gone back into the house, leaving the screen door closed, but the front door open. Our front door has side windows, and Pat was looking out one of those side windows so she could watch the crows without disturbing them. The crow that was closest to the door, probably Boss Crow, finished the food that was near him and started looking around for more. Apparently, he saw Pat out of the corner of his eye and turned to face her. As he recognized her peeking out the side window, he started prancing and then in a loud voice started jabbering. As excited as he was, he must have been saying something like, “There she is!” It was like a little kid who had just spotted his mother and couldn’t contain himself.

I had never realized that these birds could be so social or that they would recognize people as they seem to recognize Pat and Terri.

Dave Thomas

1/4/2024

This morning, Pat stopped out front to feed the crows. It was quiet and, so far, none of the birds had shown up. She started distributing the English walnuts and bread on the driveway, but there were still no crows in sight. Becoming concerned by their absence, she gave the food cry, “Caw, caw, caw, caw.” After a moment, from way off in the distance, she heard an answering “Caw, caw, caw, caw.” Pat backed off from the food, and it was probably less than a minute before a crow came swooping down and started eating. Another minute or so went by, and three more crows swooped in and began eating.

The cawing Pat heard in the distance seemed to have two purposes. It let Pat know that she had been heard, and also summoned the other three crows to breakfast.

Dave Thomas

12/28/23

Pat was out in the garage doing laundry. She had opened the roll-up garage door to let in the sunshine and fresh air. Apparently, a crow flying by saw her and swooped in for a landing just outside the garage door. The crow pranced around and was jabbering non-stop. In a couple of minutes, three more crows landed and began squawking. All four birds seemed to be stimulated and quite excited about something. All four were looking at Pat as they pranced around and jabbered and came within three or four feet of her. She realized that the crows must have decided that she was a person of compassion and empathy and wanted to communicate with her. She started making conversation. “How’s your day going?” “Did you get enough to eat?” and so forth. The crows would listen and respond. We know that neither side knew what the other was talking about, but wasn’t that an interesting exchange? Pat had to go on to other chores but told the birds she would talk again with them.

I don’t want to make more of this than is there, but I think we can draw some conclusions. First, the Boss Crow is a leader. He may be the patriarch of a family group, or just one who is recognized as a leader by the rest of the group. (I know that a bunch of crows is referred to as a “murder,” but I don’t like the word and will not use it.) The Boss Crow is a scout who has invited the other three or four birds to join him at breakfast every day. It seems that on a tough day for scavenging, he will invite the whole flock. He’s the one who originally found Pat and marked our house in his mind so he could return.

The crows recognize Pat. This is evidenced by the fuss the one crow made over Pat at the bank parking lot.

The birds have feelings for others of their kind. We learned that when the birds took turns feeding one of the gang who was sick or hurt.

The crows are social and smart. When they find a new friend, they want to communicate.

I am truly captivated by these creatures, and hope they will continue to teach me about their world.

Dave Thomas

12/21/2023

It had never occurred to me that the crow world could be so entertaining. There is a new story almost every day. So many of the happenings center around my wife, Pat, that I am afraid she might become known as “the crazy old crow woman.” Here is another case in point.

The other morning, Pat went to the bank. It’s a neighborhood bank, only about a block and a half from home (as the crow flies.) As she walked from her car in the parking lot to the entrance to the bank, a crow swooped down and began flying circles above her head, squawking loudly. She waved at it and yelled, “Do I know you? Are you one of my guests?” I hope no one witnessed this.

Dave Thomas

12/14/2023