Fall is my favorite season. Actually, there is one particular day during the fall season that I consider my favorite day of the year. That day (in 2016) was today. It’s the day that the wind whips up and the crows take to the sky en masse.
Once a year, a perfect storm arises when an uncanny murder of crows gather in and around Elmwood/Allentown. Actually, it might happen for an extended period of days, but there is usually one particular evening that stands out from the rest. I believe that that evening was this evening. Every tree in Allentown was alive with crows. They were flying through the air, cawing, swooping, and perched in roosts as far as the eye could see. It’s a magical time, to see these birds come together in such incredible numbers. I walked around as the sun was setting, and the moon was getting brighter and brighter.
It is said that the reason that the crows congregate in the city in such numbers these days is that it is now illegal to shoot them (unlike in days past when people would shoot anything that looked like needed a good shooting). The city also offers more light, which means that the crows can hunt for prey and avoid predators easier. Another belief is that the city is home to some of the biggest trees, where the crows can roost together in large numbers. It is the latter theory that I actually believe. Seeing the masses of crows flock to the same sets of trees year after year, it’s almost as if these particular trees were made for roosting.
The crow is to fall, as the cicada is to summer.
After doing a little research, I found out that some crows do migrate to places such as Canada. Others stick around in Buffalo throughout the winter. Crows tend to mate for life, which I find very interesting and incredibly endearing. I have heard that they have the ability to recognize people’s faces too – wrong a crow, and you might find yourself being targeted by its comrades down the road. They have managed to withstand everything that man has thrown at them, and continue to thrive despite the unnatural forces that are against them. For all of these reasons and more, I find crows to be awe-inspiring creatures that deserve our respect.
Whenever I see a crow throughout the course of the year, I always say under my breath, “Go crow!” I’ve been doing that for as long as I can remember. To me, crows equate to life. At a time when so many of the beasts and birds have disappeared, the crow remains… as if to remind us that we are not the only ones that occupy these lands. We are not alone. This is not our planet alone. We must share it. Unfortunately, the crows caws tend to fall on deaf ears. It’s the lucky few that stop to listen to the chatter of the birds, and watch them entrenched in the trees as darkness slowly envelops them.
Go Crow!