Once Spoke to a Crow… drawing

I once spoke to a crow.
I cawed.
He answered.
He cawed some more.
(Me: quickly counting “caws”).
I replied with the same number of “caws”.
We played a game of it.
Some sentences were 5 caws in a row, some 7, some 9.
Until I grew hoarse of course, which was disappointingly too soon.

I have a few crows that fly around my house. Most of the time they ignore me, the strange woman cawing in a human voice. I wonder what they think when they hear me. I’ve tried to befriend them several times to no avail. But one day…we played a game.

The American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) is an intelligent bird, one of few birds that can use objects as tools. Several people attest to getting to know their neighborhood crow in a closer way. One girl even had crows bring her gifts! Article and picture of trinkets here.

I have not seen my crow friends in about two months. Hopefully, soon they’ll make a return.

The above drawing was done using graphite pencils (2B, 4B, 6B), blending stick, sparingly: white and black Conte crayon, on Strathmore Toned Tan sketch paper (80lb).

Keep exploring, keep creating!
Christine