Back in Black

It was a tough break—lots of tough breaks, in fact, for Jeremy the crow. Broken wing, broken foot, broken toe—the results of a shooting that riddled her body with buckshot. It was in this condition that she arrived at Best Friends in December of last year.

After rescuing the crow, sub-permittee Barbara Weider named the bird Jeremy, after the famous crow in Robert C. O’Brien’s children’s book, “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of N.I.M.H.” At the time, Barbara could only guess the crow’s gender since males and females look the same. But after some time observing the crow, Barbara and licensed wildlife rehabilitator Carmen Smith began noticing some behaviors indicative of females.

When shot, Jeremy was in the area of Best Friends, on the annual migration that crows make to southern Utah. Getting her healed up in time for the crow’s spring migration out of the area was simply not feasible. So, Barbara and Carmen kept Jeremy at Best Friends long after she had healed, waiting for the crows’ return so that Jeremy would have a spot among them.

Last month, a murder (believe it or not, the term for a group of crows) of migratory crows happened to take to the pecan tree in Barbara’s backyard. This was the opportunity Barbara and Carmen were waiting for. The idea was to integrate Jeremy into the murder, and no better way to do that than by giving her a place at the dining table. (Beforehand, Carmen and Barbara had accustomed Jeremy to eating pecans, so she wouldn’t be shy about eating the food served.)

Upon arrival, Carmen and Barbara kept Jeremy in the crate, allowing her to get used to the sounds in the neighborhood and the vocalizations of all these foreign crows. Carmen was a bit nervous about releasing Jeremy among so many birds (since it might have scared Jeremy away). But as fate would have it, a red-tailed hawk happened to fly over, and every crow in the pecan tree gave chase. It was Carmen’s chance to release Jeremy, and have her already in the tree by the time the other crows returned from the chase. And it worked! Jeremy hopped out, flew up into the pecan tree, and was munching on nuts when the other crows arrived. She’s since integrated nicely into the murder, as Barbara can now attest from her back window.

Story by Ted Brewer
Photo by Troy Snow