Murder of Crows

I heard the Murder before I saw it. There were at least a dozen Crows sitting in the tree. A tree burdened bare by the winter upon us. Their caws were piercing through the early morning as I sipped my first cup of coffee and looked after them from the safety of my kitchen. “I’m already awake,” I said. “and good morning to you too.” They come everyday to tell a tale they know I don’t understand. Yet still they come. And still they caw. And everyday I watch them. And everyday they watch me.

In some cultures the Crow is seen as a guardian and keeper of the sacred law. In other, less sophisticated cultures, they are seen as nefarious, at best.

Crows are considered the most intelligent of all birds. They not only have a remarkable memory but some, as studies indicate, are known to count. Would you believe me if I told you that Crows have the apparent capacity to remember faces? They recognize one another as well as humans.

A group of Crows is sometimes referred to as a ‘Storytelling of Crows’; a ‘Parliament of Rooks’; or more commonly a ‘Murder of Crows’. The latter, because they are known to gather in circles of fifty or more as if in tribunal, to judge and, if warranted to ‘murder’ one of their own. No one knows why, but this behavior has all the earmarks of an ‘execution’.

Two Crows in particular, visit often, perching themselves on my back fence as they wait and observe. But today, I suppose they are in the ‘Murder’ that flees hurriedly as my neighbor exits her house with the slam of her back door. “Goodbye for now," they seem to say. "see you in the morrow.”