Post by dl on May 5, 2014 17:34:27 GMT -7
We actually have two crows......Jo's story: We saw her hopping around in a McDonald's parking lot in July '06. The end of her wing was broken and hanging. We took her home and bandaged her up, but the end of the wing could not be saved. She has enough of a wing that she can flap around the house, but actual flying is out of the question. So now she lives at our house. She likes to play with toys and make hiding places to put her food. One of her favorite toys is a foraging toy made for parrots. It has little doors that she has to open to get her treats out. She occasionally says "hello", but in the morning, when it's time to wake up the kids, she makes the sound of me knocking on their door.
One time Jacob was sitting next to her cage watching a movie. She came down and started pecking at his elbow. He said, "HEY! Why is Joe Pecking at me?!!" So we watched her. One of the doors on her foraging toy was stuck. She was trying to get it open and then hopping down to poke Jacob and then hopping back up to tug at the door again. She wanted Jacob to help her! Since then she will tug on sleeves for her favorite foods, which are pizza and popcorn!
The other crow we have is Mrs. Whatsit... when we got her, the kids had just read "A Wrinkle in Time" and then saw the movie. In the movie, Mrs. Whatsit came in as a crow. My daughter, Rose, had been saying that it would be fun to have a crow that is a little more tame than Jo. Jo comes up to us and plays games with us, but we don't hold her. Rose wanted to have a crow we could hold. Then, a few days after making this declaration, I got a phone call from someone who said a baby bird was in their yard and it wouldn't fly away. She said she thought it was hurt. I told her that it might just be stunned and I could take it home and let it recover overnight and return it in the morning so the parents could take care of it. When I got there, this crow was sitting on the ground. I walked up to it, expecting her to hop off or at least make some attempt to stay away from me. But she just looked at me as if she expected me to pick her up. I did pick her up and saw from her growing feathers and the flesh in the corners of her mouth that she was a very young bird. But she should be reacting to a huge predator, like myself, and she clearly was not so something was very wrong. I took her home and every time we walked by, she held her mouth open and begged for food. She was young, but not THAT young. The next day, she was saying, "Hello!" to us, in the sweetest voice. Then I started putting the story together. I bet what happened is one of the lady's young sons found the bird outside as a little baby and brought it in. They fed her and took care of her for a while and then thought they could put her outside and have her fly away. She did NOT fly away. She is totally imprinted. The two crows get along really well and they play together.
I have a small little cage that I use for transporting the birds and it sits on top of the cages in between uses. The birds like to play in it and that's where she is sitting in these photos. Sorry about the quality of the photos. I have not yet figured out how to take pictures of a black bird.
One time Jacob was sitting next to her cage watching a movie. She came down and started pecking at his elbow. He said, "HEY! Why is Joe Pecking at me?!!" So we watched her. One of the doors on her foraging toy was stuck. She was trying to get it open and then hopping down to poke Jacob and then hopping back up to tug at the door again. She wanted Jacob to help her! Since then she will tug on sleeves for her favorite foods, which are pizza and popcorn!
The other crow we have is Mrs. Whatsit... when we got her, the kids had just read "A Wrinkle in Time" and then saw the movie. In the movie, Mrs. Whatsit came in as a crow. My daughter, Rose, had been saying that it would be fun to have a crow that is a little more tame than Jo. Jo comes up to us and plays games with us, but we don't hold her. Rose wanted to have a crow we could hold. Then, a few days after making this declaration, I got a phone call from someone who said a baby bird was in their yard and it wouldn't fly away. She said she thought it was hurt. I told her that it might just be stunned and I could take it home and let it recover overnight and return it in the morning so the parents could take care of it. When I got there, this crow was sitting on the ground. I walked up to it, expecting her to hop off or at least make some attempt to stay away from me. But she just looked at me as if she expected me to pick her up. I did pick her up and saw from her growing feathers and the flesh in the corners of her mouth that she was a very young bird. But she should be reacting to a huge predator, like myself, and she clearly was not so something was very wrong. I took her home and every time we walked by, she held her mouth open and begged for food. She was young, but not THAT young. The next day, she was saying, "Hello!" to us, in the sweetest voice. Then I started putting the story together. I bet what happened is one of the lady's young sons found the bird outside as a little baby and brought it in. They fed her and took care of her for a while and then thought they could put her outside and have her fly away. She did NOT fly away. She is totally imprinted. The two crows get along really well and they play together.
I have a small little cage that I use for transporting the birds and it sits on top of the cages in between uses. The birds like to play in it and that's where she is sitting in these photos. Sorry about the quality of the photos. I have not yet figured out how to take pictures of a black bird.
My ex-husband didn't appreciate it, but that is another long story. This is how I've been since I was 2 years old... expecting me to change is futile!)
