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Crow

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For other uses, see Crow (disambiguation).

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The true crows are in the genus Corvus; they are large Passerine birds. As a group they show remarkable examples of intelligence; it would not be at all an exaggeration to characterize crows as being to birds what higher primates (including humans) are to mammals. Crows have been noted to have some type of funeral, and ravens often score very highly on intelligence tests. Crows in the northwestern US (a blend of Corvus brachyrhynchos and Corvus caurinus) show modest linguistic capabilities and the ability to relay information over great distances, live in complex, hierarchic societies involving hundreds of individuals with various "occupations", and have an intense rivalry with the area's less socially-advanced ravens. One species, the New Caledonian Crow, has recently been intensively studied because of its ability to manufacture and use its own tools in the day-to-day search for food.

All temperate continents (except, surprisingly, South America) and several offshore and oceanic islands (including Hawaii) have representatives of the 40 or so members of this genus.

Crows appear to have evolved in central Asia and radiated out into North America (including Mexico), Africa, Europe, and Australia. Other evidence points to an Australasian origin for the family.

They range in size from the relatively small pigeon-sized jackdaws (Eurasian and Daurian) to the Common Raven of the Palearctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia.

A group of crows is called a Murder, and a group of ravens is called an Unkindness.

Color and society

Extra-specific uses of color in crow societies

Many crow species are all black. Most of their natural enemies, the raptors or "falconiformes", soar high above the trees, and hunt primarily on bright, sunny days when contrast between light and shadow is greatest. Crows take advantage of this by maneuvering themselves through the dappled shades of the trees, where their black color renders them effectively invisible to their enemies above, in order to set up complex ambush attacks. Thus, their black "color" is of great military importance to their societies. (It is perhaps here where we find the greatest difference between ravens and other crows; ravens tend to soar high in the air as raptors do, and like raptors, are usually the target of ambushes by other crows. Non-ravenous crows do not appear to perceive ravens as their own kind, but instead treat them as raptors. One could speculate that this is because ravens pair-bond and live in family groups no larger than three, just like raptors, whereas other crows tend to live in larger and more sophisticated communities, and therefore see the behavior of ravens as being more like "the enemy" than themselves; but this would be pure conjecture, as the actual reason is still unknown.)

Intra-specific uses of color in crow societies

Even in species characterized by being all black, one will still occasionally find variations, most of which appear to result from varying degrees of albinism, such as:

  • an otherwise all-black crow stunningly contrasted by a full set of brilliant, pure-white primary feathers.
  • complete covering in varying shades of grey (generally tending toward the darker side)
  • blue or red, rather than swarthy eyes (blue being more common than red).
  • Some combination of the above

The treatment of these rare individuals may vary from group to group, even within the same species. For example, one such individual may recieve special treatment, attention, or care from the others in its group, while another group of the same species might exile such individuals, forcing them to fend for themselves. The reason for such behaviors, and why these behaviors vary as they do, has yet to be studied. Any conclusion hence drawn must therefore be speculative.

Mythology and folklore

Crows, and especially ravens, often feature in legends or mythology as portents or harbingers of doom or death, because of their dark plumage, unnerving calls, and tendency to eat carrion, that causes them to circle above scenes of death such as battles.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, a story similiar to that of Noah's Ark, the character Utnapishtim releases a dove and a raven to find land, similar to what Noah does in the the book of Genesis. However, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the dove merely circles and returns. Only then does he send forth the raven, who does not return. Utnapishtim extrapolates from this that the raven has found land, which is why it hasn't returned. This would seem to indicate some acknowledgement of crow intelligence, which may have been apparent even in ancient times, and to some might imply that the higher intelligence of crows, when compared to other birds, is striking enough that it was known even then.

In occult circles, distinctions are sometimes made between crows and ravens. In mythology and folklore as a whole, crows tend to be symbolic more of the spiritual aspect of death, or the transition of the spirit into the afterlife, whereas ravens tend more often to be associated with the negative (physical) aspect of death. However, few if any individual mythologies or folklores make such a distinction, and there are ample exceptions. Another reason for this distinction is that while non-ravenous crows are typically highly social animals, ravens don't seem to congregate in large numbers anywhere but a) near carrion where they meet seemingly by chance, or b) at cemeteries, where large numbers sometimes live together, even though carrion there is no more available (and probably less attainable) than any road or field.

In Neopagan circles, crows are often thought to be highly psychic and are associated with the element of spirit or ether, rather than the element of air as with most other birds. This may in part be due to the long-standing occult tradition of associating the color black with "the abyss" of infinite knowledge (see akasha), or perhaps also to the more modern occult belief that wearing the "color" black aids in psychic ability, as it absorbs more electromagnetic energy, since surfaces appear black by absorbing all frequencies in the visible spectrum, reflecting no color.

Species

Crow on a branch, Maruyama Kyo (1733-1795)

Australian species

North American species

African species

North African & Asia Minor species

European species

Asian species

The islands between Southeast Asia and Australia have several species, as do the West Indies off the south east coast of the North American continent. A few Pacific islands (including Hawaii) have representative species also.


For more information regarding crows, see the individual species.

For more information regarding relatives of the crows, such as magpies and jays, see Corvidae.

See also

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