So the other day while I was sitting down looking out the back window and writing, I was awestruck at the amount of birds I was seeing. You see, we hung two feeders in the backyard and unlike the shy birds in Littleton, Colorado which took over a day to decide if they wanted to come to our ornithological buffet, these Arizona birds have gumption! Not fifteen minutes after the feeders were out did we have what seemed like half of the birds in the desert eagerly dining! Oh and get this, we put a water bowl outside right next to the slider so that the boys would have it when we let them out. Well, I look over and half a dozen little birds are fluttering in and around in the 6” dog bowl. Mila, the cat, is in her glory. She’s thinking, hot-diggity! You gave me my own personal zoo with a full length viewing glass.
I have been able to identify a couple of the bird species: finches, I believe purple finches (the ones with the red bellies and necks), and Western Meadowlarks (pretty yellow bellies). But looking out over the open terrain, we have also noticed many large black crows or ravens in the area. Hearing them sound their “call” every morning actually reminds me of the corn fields near my childhood home. It distinctly takes me back to a crisp fall day in the farmland of Pennsylvania with a cool breeze teasing my hair while I watched the crows sitting on a fence post or flying up above in the sky. The familiarity of the sound is actually comforting.
However, the crows I am seeing in Arizona are very large, which led me to puzzle over whether what I was observing were crows or ravens. What’s the difference? So, off to the computer I went. After a search I quickly determined that these were indeed ravens. With size seeming to be the major difference, crows are relatively small in comparison to the raven which averages 25 inches. Now I know some of you are shuddering at the image, and maybe a particular Alfred Hitchcock movie is coming to mind, but did you know that crows and ravens are extremely intelligent? Their brains are apparently among the largest of any bird species. Ravens being larger are therefore a bit smarter. The young crows and ravens also love to play. They will pick up objects, play with them and hide them. Yes, they are scavengers. They also mate for life, or for long periods of time.
I realize there is a common thought that they carry an evil connotation or omen (often thought of as a bad omen, yet they can be a good omen as well). Did you also know that they conversely carry a God-like presence in Mythology? I learned too that the Raven is mentioned numerous times throughout the Bible and often used as a positive example.
I’m certainly not trying to convert you into a lover of crows and ravens, but perhaps we shouldn’t stereotype them as being bad so easily. They too serve their own unique purpose. Anyway, there is an abundance of information out there to suit your fancy should you really want to dive right into it. As for me, my curiosity having been fed, I think I’ll “call” it a day.
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