Crows are ubiquitous in Indian cities and they are not hunted. Some even adopted them!
In September 2019, Indian Time regarding the following news item: Shiva Kewat, a farmer from the state of Madhya Pradesh is attacked daily by crows in groups and sometimes alone. What the neighbors confirmed. Forced to move with a stick in self-defense, he said: “ Three years ago I tried to free a crow cub caught in a net, unfortunately he died in my hands. Since the local crows kept attacking me, if only I could make them understand that I was just trying to help him. Therefore, it seems that these crows are acting to avenge each other.
Sophie Collet on her blog Dear Bombay on Courier International tells the story of and lives with Punki, a young Mumbaikar crow whom she adopted with her husband. Except Punki who adopted him. A ” real glue pot it looks like.
A collaborator of your edition, also recently donated, by a pair of neighboring crows in a tree near his kitchen balcony.
A pair of demanding crows on the balcony in Pondicherry
Accustomed to depositing from time to time, in a place near his kitchen balcony, some leftovers, even biscuits or softened bread, he then thought of doing a good deed by participating in selective selection and by feeding squirrels, birds, and insects.
One day while he was busy in the kitchen, he heard a hoarse voice that sounded very similar to a complaint. A crow perched on the balcony and stopped, unmoving, when he arrived, tilting his head to the right, then to the left, seemingly waiting for him to act. Except that he had nothing to share with her that day, except leftover tabbouleh. That’s enough! All good for this omnivorous bird. Believe that they are really hungry, whereas in Pondicherry as in all cities in India, food is easy to find.
Day after day the merry-go-round repeats almost the same time, sometimes he has enough money to feed this freeloader, sometimes he doesn’t. However, as soon as he was on his balcony, a crow came, probably always the same, it landed and challenged him, which never happened when he was accompanied or when someone had other fates. Human-bird discussions happen, but it’s always the animals who have the last word!
Have you ever tried telling a crow to shut up or get out? You’ll be tired before he does! Nothing scares him.
One day, as he bent down to put down the plate of leftovers, two crows swooped in behind him and one of them swept his head, scratching it in the process. Poorly raised guest and very rushed into anything! The next day, she asked her cleaning lady, to whom she explained the incident, to bring some food, as she was afraid of her scalp. This one was observing and funny came over to say to him: “look in the tree, the couple has made their nest and they have a baby to feed!“So they think of it as a local grocery store!
The moral of the story is that this one just came out on his balcony in a hat!
Crows are everywhere in Indian cities
The Indian crow is of the order Passerine and of the family Corvidae. Measuring about 43 cm, its plumage varies in color from “raven” black to light gray. Females are smaller than males and they are monogamous.
Corvida population continues to increase, on the one hand because it is easy to find food, on the other hand because it has no natural predators and does not compete with other animals, other types of birds. The crows ring the cities of India, day and sometimes even night, it is impossible to ignore them, it is impossible to count them.
In some parts of the world, crows are considered a pest species, due to their large numbers (they can have two young per year). They hunt other types of birds by attacking chicks, they are thieves and they transmit diseases to humans with their droppings that fall in food stalls sold in the open air, or in open water reservoirs. .
The raven is revered in India and a character from the Pancha Tantra tales
The Pondicherry Indians call them by their English names, Raven, they respect them. Very often even before starting their meal, those who have preserved the old habit, give part of the banana leaf to the crow. The Tamils believe that the dead are reincarnated as crows, so they are family and do not try to chase them away.
The crow is very much present in the stories of the Pancha Tantra, the famous collection of Indian stories from which La Fontaine was inspired.
They are docile animals as we read above and very intelligent. They are able to recognize voices and faces, they memorize and learn from their experiences. Besides, they can organize themselves in groups, who hasn’t seen a tribe of crows harassing a dog to steal its loot?
It remains to be seen if crows have a palate, can they tell the difference between pasta with cheese and lemon rice?
And to know everything about the various types of crows in India (for a French translation, watch the video on Youtube):
