I have been building a friendship with the crows and ravens around San Francisco since early in the Covid pandemic. I’ve learned they love in-shell peanuts and they naturally understand some human gestures like beckoning, pointing, and bowing.
Things have developed to the point that they recognize my face and voice even if I am blocks away from my house. I have a special call “Corbie! Corbie!” and they all come swooping down from the sky. It’s very cinematic like a horror movie and many of my neighbors think I’m a witch. There is unfortunately a downside that they don’t show you in the movies: Quite a lot of bird poop!
I love to host a surreal caucas of corbies cawing and eating peanuts but I’ve decided it’s time to focus on building rapport with one very smart raven, Clyde. Clyde is so playful and funny. We shall have a lovely interspecies romance while conducting behavioral research tests on each other