Few things surprise this old Crone, especially when it comes to greeting new visitors to my backyard. Over the years, we’ve entertained — and often adopted — dozens of feral cats & litters of kittens, lost dogs, scores of lizards, a swimming crustacean, a runaway iguana and several non-flying, unidentifiable large birds. One hearty little bunny took up residence in the garden and stayed for years, and a pair of mallard ducks spent several days, pool-side (to the chagrin of two very concerned dogs), enjoying countless dips in the pool before flying off to wherever they came from. They returned each summer, for several years, before presumably moving on to a new “vacation time share”.
Last Friday afternoon, on the day of the Blue Moon, I was in the kitchen, busily finishing some preparations for an annual weekend-long party that was taking place in our home in a few hours. I had noticed some bird activity outside the kitchen window, noting that the mockingbirds were very annoyed at something on the roof above. My husband and our friend, both of whom had just returned home after running some errands, called to me to, “Come outside! Hurry!”
It was then that I met the most remarkable creature.
What to do? We all have heard the cautionary tales on the subject of feeding wild animals. We weren’t even sure what to feed it, safely, if we were to feed it at all. Following a quick search on Google, we decided a little moistened chicken feed might not hurt, but the little crow would not accept anything we offered. It did, however, gobble down — with much enthusiasm — all we placed inside its enormous, open-for-business, baby crow mouth! Yum!
What was also confusing was that, normally, there would be a dozen crows around, at this time of day, sitting on their favorite perches atop the majestic Italian Cypress trees bordering the next-door garden, or on the roof of Tulla Market, directly behind. There was not a crow in sight for the rest of the day.
Oh, no! Did we chase the other crows away with our interference? We were not to know, then, but it was grower darker and we were all growing increasingly concerned that this young bird may be vulnerable to predators once it grew dark. So, into our brooder it went for the night.
More research told me that the young crows, the fledglings, are sent from the nest (which is actually a very vulnerable spot for a young bird), as soon as they are able to fly short distances and hop around and search for food. Apparently, the adult members of the community are nearby, maybe even hidden, so they can watch and intercede, if true danger were to arise. This is just the same as we do with our own teenagers, isn’t it? We realize we must let them learn how to take care of themselves, but we watch from a distance until we are sure they can do it successfully.
Once we learned this, we wanted to leave the young crow to fend for itself, as much as possible, One more night in the brooder (as it still would not leave the ground and the openness of the yard) and then we spent the next few days encouraging it to hunt and peck for its own food. We did offer some of my chicken’s beloved meal-worms, which we scattered on the ground. Once the crow began pecking at the worms, it began experimenting and picking up other things from the ground, little sticks, pieces of grass, clumps of dirt, even a bug or two! Success!
As I write, the crow remains very close, spending much of the day in the front yard. But, thankfully, it has taken to roost somewhere, out of sight, each night. I have also noticed it is less eager to have physical contact with me, and the actual amount of time spent here is lessening as time passes.
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I’m still trying to process this whole experience. The group of friends gathered in our backyard for a party spent 24 unforgettable hours with us, certainly! The crow was determined to join us, she kept finding ways to get into our backyard (we promptly returned her to the front, as there were several dogs at the party) — she even tried following individuals into the house, then sat on the front porch, calling loudly and pecking on the front door!
I feel truly blessed by this experience, as I do each time some animal seeks out the safety of my own yard, for whatever the reason. I know, absolutely, some of those animals who have sought refuge here would not have survived if they had chosen another yard. I also believe I will soon see this same crow among the community of adult crows that reside in this neighborhood. It will soon be a part of the flock of Crow Heroes, who do constant battle with a very determined hawk that threatens our neighborhood chicken flocks.
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