Crow – The Universal Bird of Earth

Scientific Name: Corvus brachyrhynchos
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Corvidae
Genus: Corvus
Life Span : 7 to 8 years
Sexual Maturity : 2 years
Average weight: around 400 grams
Incubation Period : 16 to 18 days
Nature: Omnivores

Considered as good omen in some culture and bad in some other parts of the world, Crow is the very interesting bird. They have the biggest brain to body ratio among all bird species on Earth. The anatomy of crow brain is much similar to humans. The highly developed fore-brain makes this bird a highly intelligent creature. There are nearly 120 varieties of crows have been identified across the globe. Except Antarctica, they live everywhere and they eat everything. If you trace back their origin, then you have to go back as far as 17 million years of Australia Oceania region.
Crows intelligence is clearly evident with the stories like ‘nut cracking crows.’ Placing the nuts under the fast moving vehicles, they used to crack the nuts. These are all true stories. Because, these birds have that level of sophisticated thinking capacity. Their intelligence level is better than other smart birds like owls and parrots. They are also called ‘feathered apes’ due to its better brain power compared to Bonobo Chimps. They are very good I at creating intricate nests to store food and stay.
On average, they lay 4 to 7 eggs at once.

Crow and Mythology: Lots stories we can find in the Hindu and Greek mythology about crows.

These black birds eat insects, seeds, all kinds of nuts, grains, fruits, non-insect arthropods, mollusks, worms and even other birds. In their entire lifespan, they have only single mate.

Habitats of Crow:
The common raven is one of the widely seen birds. We can find in Northern Europe, Scandinavia, Greenland, Iceland, Asia, India, Nepal, Srilanka, Iran and across Northwestern Africa; North and Central America. They life all types of lands like coastal area, treeless open places, tree covered forests, riverbanks, plains, deserts and woodlands.

Directed by the legendary Alfred Hitchcock, the 1963 Horror-thriller ‘The Birds,’ narrates the story of sudden and violent attack of the crows on the people.

These wonderful birds always misunderstood and mistreated by the people. In South India, primarily in Tamil Nadu, keeping food for crows is a daily custom and it thrives even today. Like many bird species, Crows also congregate in large numbers to sleep to get protected from the predators.

By
Srini