The carrion crow

You can see where the blood vessels were.

Unbelievable but true: the carrion crow (Corvus corone corone) belongs to the songbirds! Their song (if we want to name it that way) isn’t very nice, but carrion crows have an impressive size and their black plumage looks classy. I enjoy watching them. Like pigeons crows are very intelligent and adaptive. Under the cut I show you my crow stuff so you get to know more about these mystic animals.

In due to a mishap the crows in Germany are protected by law. Not that the crows really need it badly, no. The meaning was to protect all songbirds, but stupidly nobody kept in mind that crows belong to the songbirds, too xD Oh my! Now the hunters need special permission to hunt these birds. My carrion crow hide came from such a hunt. I know, it hangs on my wall in a bit macabre way, but I still like it.

In Switzerland the crows aren’t protected by law. In December 24nd I found a death crow hanging on a yarn in a tree. A hunter killed that crow and used its body for baiting foxes or other predators. The dead critter dangled in the wind and it was disgusting to watch that scene so I cut off that dead crow. I put it into a save shrubbery and left it for a few months. In summer I went back to this place and now I have a nice carrion crow skull.

I also own a second carrion crow skull. My mum found this animal lying dead in her rain barrel in the garden. I think the crow was thirsty and wanted to drink but fell into the barrel and drowned. This was definitely not a smart crow, because we have a creek and a river right nearby. My mum buried it and after a few months we dug it out and bleached the skull. Too bad that the beak sheath is missing.

Now let’s have a look to the beak: It looks very solid and big, so the carrion crow can peck wonderfully. An ideal tool for plundering other birds nest or for killing baby hares. Even the agriculture cannot bear these birds, because crows can do a lot of damage if they pitch into a field. But carrion crows can be useful animals as well! In the breeding season they eat a lot of mice and snails! And they eat even carcasses! You see, carrion crows are real food opportunists.

Long and very strong beak.

The humans were always fascinated by crows. In many cultures (Indians, Persians or Germanic tribes) crows were adored as godlike creatures or companions of gods. But in the medieval time the people were afraid of these black birds, because dead people (like hanging men) were a wonderful buffet for carrion crows. That’s the root of the words like “gallows bird”. The people associate the crows with death and misfortune and started to hate them. But there are also good tales about crows. There’s an old legend in Switzerland, two crows debunked murderers of an hermit monk. That’s why the canton Einsiedeln has two black crows on its emblem.

Leg of a carrion crow. Got it from my trusted taxidermist.

Carrion crows are very social animals and a flock of them will stay in their territory. In summer you can find a lot of feathers under their sleeping trees. If the wind didn’t blow the feathers away or someone else picked it up I love to grab them, hurr durr!

As you may know I love to do handicraft work. This dusky dreamcatcher is dedicated to these wonderful black birds. I got the crow parts from my trusted taxidermist, because his saker falcon hunts carrion crows. I like how it turned out.

Now let's watch some crows ;)