The Brainy Black Beauty
As a little kid, I vividly remember accompanying my granny to the building terrace on some auspicious days. On the particular day of the afterlife (shradh), the ritual was to place a morsel of food (pind) on the ledge. She then clapped her hands and called out ka-ka, mimicking the caw. We would be standing at a safe distance, and I could sense a thrill when her call was answered by a flock of crows, flying in one after the other, following a hierarchy to feed. Each would grab a beak full, not a grain more.
My grandma told me that crows were our ancestors (pitr). She went on to clarify that this was a symbolic association, and crows were seen as messengers between the mortal and the spirit world. Thus, they are revered.
Sharing is caring didn’t need a better demonstration.
One of the famous Tamil poets’, Thiruvalluvar, couplets called Kural says,
Kaakai karava karaindunnum
Aakkamum
Anna neeraarkke ula
i.e. The crows always call out to eat and share the food. Prosperity will shower on those with a similar disposition.
The family of crows, Corvidae, has general features of dark colouration, glossy plumage, and strong curved beaks. Their general behaviour traits are:
Being adept at tool usage. Everyone knows the famous story of the Thirsty Crow, where the bird uses pebbles to quench his thirst.
Opportunistic feeding — it’s common to see birds eating out of palms. In the case of crows, they know the hand that feeds — the individual behind it. They may just be short of knowing you by name!
There have been anecdotes regarding their intelligence. The ‘nutcracker’ crow used to drop shelled nuts from lampposts, and vehicles ran over to crack them. The ‘hitchhiker’ crow took free rides on BEST bus roofs to reach his nesting and foraging destination.
Gabi’s Gifts illustrates the most heartwarming real-world example of social intelligence and mutual appreciation between them and humans. Gabi Mann used to feed crows from the age of four in Seattle, USA. In return, she got beads, buttons, polished stones, and a camera lens cover, which the family lost. The treasures were documented by the family and reported by BBC.
Crows’ social organisation is another lesson in advanced thought processes. They congregate in large groups for communal sleeping called “roosts”. “Roosting” has many benefits:
- protection from predators — wagon train analogy, i.e. safety in numbers.
- protection from elements — they build their nests high or low in trees based not only on prevalent but also predictive weather conditions.
- living in flocks aids in foraging profitably, thus acting as “information centers”.
When children are asked to write essays on ‘Favourite Bird’ in school projects, most flock to the Proud Peacock, Graceful Goose, Stunning Swan, etc. I wish at least one among the thirty-odd in the classroom would choose the Clever Crow — the quiet caretaker of our streets and cities.
The grown-ups in the Western world can now “eat crow”, as this article should debunk their myths about crows as harbingers to witchcraft and the dark world.
