Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Far Away Vocals

I have a disability.  I suppose you could say that I have had one for four years now, but it didn't feel that way until last summer.  During the year and four months I've been away from Grand Forks, while trying to make myself physically stronger; facing daily, ongoing pain; and having multiple doctor appointments each week, the crows of Grand Forks faded from my mind. Then suddenly, there they were again.  I was in my beloved apt. on a Sunday morning, listening to the raucous.

Unlike the crows in Schenectady, New York, I never felt I was a part of their world, and felt that I would never be.  I was merely an observer and nothing else.  I saw them ever so still in the cold and the snow.  I saw them facing each other while they talked to each other, one warm day...like two gabbing women.   I saw them grabbing at that pretty flower...that pretty flower that they seemed to like so much.

I have so many questions that have never been answered.  Why were they dark brown at times instead of black?  No doubt that was due to the angle of sunlight, but I never saw that before in my life...not in Schnectady, not in New York City. Were Sunday morning conversations between kin or just friends?  What were they talking about?  Why was Sunday morning full of so many vocals?  Why were the type of vocals they used limited compared to crows in Schenectady?

But here in Vermillion, there are no answers.  There's only silence.  It's thick, like pea soup.  What makes the crows stay away from Vermillion?  Why won't they come into town?  I have no clue.

Crows actually engage in many type of calls, more than 20.   In addition to types of sounds, they can also vary the loudness and pitch of their calls, depending on what they want to say.    At least one type of crow is even known to "curse!"  While listening to CAWS, "you may also hear crows making a 'subsong': a mixture of hoarse or grating coos, caws, rattles, and clicks. These are arranged in sequences that can be many minutes long, given quietly and with a rambling, improvised quality." (Cornell Lab of Ornithology).  Crows can also imitate the vocals of other creatures, even ones of humans.  Micheal Westerfield writes that, "crows use specific sounds under specific circumstances. Alarm calls, assembly calls, distress calls, and many others have been noted. One problem in interpreting these calls, however, has been the fact that different groups of crows, belonging to the same species but in different geographical areas, may not use or understand all of the same calls."

My days here in Vermillion grow short and I long to be among the crows once more.  I can't wait.

Sources:
All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, American Crows
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Crow/sounds

Michael Westerfield, The Language of Crows
http://www.crows.net/language.html




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