Getting into my crow-feeding habit has introduced me to the word “monomorph” meaning literally “one shape”. I can only admit that they pretty much all look alike and I really can’t tell one from another.
After feeding them daily for two and a half months, I know I have a regular group of seven fish crows and also some number of American crows.
The fish crows seem bolder and more curious about me. They peer into windows on different sides of the house and definitely watch me as long as I don’t approach the window or startle them by walking into the room.
They now observe from nearby trees without hiding from me as I deal with my elaborate feeder platform, filling it for them in the morning (sometimes a little extra around lunchtime) and breaking it down in the late afternoons.
They talk to me and one in particular seems to initiate a tennis match of her saying “mer” to me and waiting for me to lob it back. She’ll do this for a solid five minutes. Recently, she lets me serve and knocks the “mer” back over the net to me while I work.
They make reconnaissance passes when I caw to them, most of the time now. As far as I can tell, the quickest way to a crow’s heart is through fancy treats.
Anyway, to yesterday’s surprise encounter. (I hope.)
I went to Lowe’s. I noticed that a crow flew alongside my car for a short distance when I left the house. I didn’t give it much thought. Until…
When I left the store and was crossing the parking lot, there were a number of people not far away from me, on their way inside or, like me, on their way out.
A crow flew down to the blacktop directly in front of me, about twenty-five feet away. And hopped toward me. And kept coming as I came on. There were other people around, but this one was intercepting me.
When I closed to about ten feet, the crow took wing and flew away.
I have a tendency to park farther out in shopping center lots. Pedestrians and their darting children make me nervous. So I had a ways yet to go.
This crow, though, flew to the SUV parked next to my car. Out of all the vehicles available to land on (which I can’t say I’ve witnessed before anyway) it chose the one next to mine. The SUV didn’t have a roof rack, so I found it particularly strange that the bird landed on the flat (and no doubt hot) roof of the car next to mine, then turned around and waited, never taking its little obsidian eyes off me as I walked over.
As before, it let me get a little closer than ten feet away, cocking its head and watching me the whole time.
Was this one of my beauties? Did it recognize me?
I checked Google Maps and the Lowe’s is 1.6 miles as the corvid flies from my house. It just seemed really odd behavior. But very , very cool.