BOOK: Crows by Candace Savage

Crows: Encounters With the Wise Guys of the Avian World by Candace Savage, 113 pages

This slim little nonfiction volume will  just whet your appetite for crow information. (See my fascinated crows in the picture)

The editor was harsh as I imagine there was much information left out.  By the time the lovely illustrations from over the years, the fables and legends from around the world, the cultural references are included the actual writing was short. But it works. Scientific studies regarding the social characteristics of crows, and their talking ability, and their tool-making abiltiy are cited to support the idea that crows are very smart, and inventive, and have personality. The reader is left with the understanding that crows are almost up there with humans and apes with the problem solving and sociability.

I like crows and find them very interesting. The crows in Charlottetown all return to Victoria Park every evening, much to the chagrin of the neighbourhoods that border the park. They are noisy! In fact, every summer there is a March of Crows of humans dressed up and cawing that goes to the same park at dusk in honour of the crows. There are a few crows who come to my high school every day to gather up the remains of the lunches that get left around the cars. Smart creatures!