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

We have never had crows as regular visitors, so we didn’t know what to expect. Now that we have had a few weeks to observe them, we have learned that they are intelligent, friendly, and learn quickly. Pat’s new friends are very interesting creatures.

Pat came in the other day after feeding the crows and said she had just been the subject of a fly-by. I’ll describe the fly-by later. First, I’ll give you some background information, so you’ll understand what I’m telling you. I’ve read that the small creatures don’t reproduce during a drought. That has led to a shortage of bugs, toads, snakes, lizards, and rabbits. We believe that the visits from hungry crows are due to the severe drought that Southern California is experiencing. Due to scarcity of food, the crows are forced to search the urban areas for opportunities to beg or steal something to eat.

There are normally three crows to consider. The Boss Crow is the guy that comes in first and scopes out the location. He is also the most vocal. When he lands on the driveway, if everything looks good, he gives out the food call, “Caw, caw, caw, caw.” We don’t know for sure, but think literal translation might be, “I’m here. Feed me!” A few times, after the food is all gone, he gives one “Caw” as if saying “Thank you,” and then flies away. We have no identification available for the second crow. All crows are black and shiny, so who knows? This may be the Boss Crow’s mate. The third crow has a mangled foot so you can always tell who he is. He’s always with the other two, so he may be the brother-in-law. A couple of times, there have been five birds. The additional two are smaller than the other guys, so may be offspring.

On a couple of occasions, there have been 40 or 50 birds showing up. We don’t know what caused that unless maybe it was just a poor day for hunting, and they needed breakfast.

The bread that Pat and I prefer is a brown bread with English walnuts baked in. So, when Pat started feeding the crows, she took a couple of slices of the bread outside and tore them up and scattered them on the driveway. After a few weeks, she noticed that the crows sometimes just ate the English walnuts and came back later for the bread. Pat did some research on food values and went and bought a bag of English walnuts. Now, she feeds the crows bread and extra walnuts. If more than three crows show up, she puts out more than just two slices of bread.

Now, I’ll tell you what Pat told me about the fly by. She went out the front door and gave her “come and get it” sounds. “Caw caw caw caw.” The lookout crow in the tree across the street gave a sound and flew back to our side of the street where he joined his two companions who were in the liquid amber tree in the yard of our neighbors to the south. Pat continued to tear the bread into little pieces and scatter it on the driveway. Suddenly, she saw a big shadow coming across the driveway. She looked up and saw that it was one of the crows with its wings outstretched and gliding about 6 to 9 feet above her. As she watched, the three birds soared past her in single file. They continued to glide to the north side of the yard, and then began flapping their wings and flew back to the liquid amber tree. Pat put out the rest of the food, and as soon as she turned her back and headed for the front door, the crows swooped down and began eating.

We don’t know the meaning of this fly-by. Was it a sign of recognition to say hello to someone they knew? It may have been a kind of “thank you” in advance. They may have just been taking a look to see what kind of food she put down.

There have been several fly-bys since. One morning, the two smaller birds joined in, so there were five birds gliding in single file. There were a couple of mornings that Pat’s sciatica bothered her, so she enlisted the aid of Jasmin, a young lady who comes in three times a week to help with household chores. Jasmin said she got the fly-bys also, and she had all five birds joining in.

This is cool behavior, and we wish we understood it better.

Dave Thomas

12/7/2023

I was in the Navy in 1960 and was a member of Patrol Squadron Forty-eight (VP 48), stationed at Naval Air Station North Island at Coronado, California. I was an Aviation Electronics Tech, Second Class (AT  2) and an aircrewman on our P5M2 seaplane that our squadron flew.  Another 2^nd class that I sometimes hung out and drank coffee with was a sailor named Guy Coconour (I probably spelled it wrong.) Guy was from Oklahoma, and one day mentioned that his family’s home place was just down the road from Dale Robertson’s Haymaker Ranch. I thought that was pretty neat as I had seen a couple of Robertson’s western movies and enjoyed them. His TV show, Tales of Wells Fargo, was doing well at the time, also.

I got to meet Robertson at the 1991 Golden Boot Awards Banquet in Santa Monica. He was a nice-looking man, about my size, and friendly. After we shook hands and talked for a minute, I told him I had been in the Navy with Guy Coconour. Before he could comment, we were descended upon by some of Roberston’s movie friends who had imbibed a little, and I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. I got up and went looking for another celebrity.

Dave Thomas

12/7/2023

In 1991, I met actress Angie Dickinson at the Golden Boot Awards Banquet in Santa Monica. Pat and I had seen her in a couple of movies and, later, enjoyed her portrayal of Sgt. Pepper Anderson in the Policewoman television series.

I found Ms. Dickinson during the meet and greet session at the start of the evening. We talked about her work as we walked around the hall, and  I looked for my wife, Pat, our son, Doug, and his friend, Penny. We finally found the gang, and I introduced them to Angie. She was relaxed, friendly, and gracious, and seemed  to be having a good time and enjoying the party. It was a pleasure to meet and talk with her.

Dave Thomas

11/30/2023

Pat had some recycle objects to dispose of. It was Monday morning, trash pickup day, so the trash cans had been placed at the curb the afternoon before. She took the handful of stuff and went out the front door. As she went down the driveway, she noticed two crows circling some distance away. She had fed the crows a couple of hours earlier, so she knew they were scouting for their next meal. She dumped the stuff in the Recycle Bin, went back up the driveway, and into the house, shutting the screen behind her, but leaving the front door open. 

The crows had spotted her, so they swooped in, jabbering all the way, and landed on the garage roof. Since Pat had already fed them once that morning, she ignored them. The crows kept cawing and trying to get her attention, but she wasn’t having any of it. Being denied and becoming frustrated, the crows decided to change their game. They began jumping up in the air and landing on both feet just as loud as they could. Pat continued to ignore them though she was laughing to herself at their inventiveness. The crows finally gave up and flew away. It would be fitting to say that, but that’s not what happened. The truth is that Pat caved. She took a slice of bread out and fed her hungry friends. She felt she should reward their persistence and ingenuity.

Dave Thomas

11/30/2023