After seeing an unusual crow with a white crown on my dog walk the other day, I began thinking about how many stories there might be about these clever creatures. Apparently they’re as smart as a 7 year old kid. As a parent myself, I couldn’t possibly comment. I’m fascinated by the videos of crows using tools to access food, and more so about the stories of the ways they interact with humans.
There’s a tale about a town in Ontario that struggled with crows stopping off on their migration route - a problem for the crops. After farmers were given the go-ahead to hunt them, crows flew high enough over the town to avoid being shot… but low enough to leave their droppings everywhere! They’re smart enough to identify different humans. There’s repeated tales of crows bringing little gifts and trinkets to humans who feed them regularly.
With this fascinating range of behaviours, it’s not surprising that there’s always been tales of crows and other corvids in myth and legend. I was recently gifted a gorgeous book, Mythopedia, and herein was a tale of ravens I had not previously heard: Raven, the shapeshifting trickster who brought light to the world, and created Haida Gwaii - islands in the Pacific Ocean where the legend originated. Curiosity drove Raven to steal from other gods and spirit animals, to the benefit of humans. Indeed, Raven creation stories are part of cultural heritage amongst many different Indigenous Peoples.
In Norse mythology ravens are known as Odin’s messengers; and across many cultures crows are seen as harbingers of change. Magpies have their own rhyme in England (and perhaps elsewhere - I’d love to hear regional variations):
One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret,
Never to be told.
Magpies have a special place in my heart. Until recently I had an office overlooking a large tree where a pair of magpies nested year on year. I nicknamed them Stealy and Snatchy, after their propensity to requisition shiny things, and I like to think they’re still there - or at least that their descendants have returned to the same spot.