I did not have any knowledge (and to be honest any appreciation) about crows and ravens before I moved to the USA (they do not occur in Peru, my native country). Due to my huge interest on birds & animal behavior, and the influence of one of my professors during graduate school at the University of Washington in Seattle (Dr. John Marzluff)….I could not avoid getting interested in them.
Now? I am fascinated by all corvids and it is becoming a little bit of an obsession. I know John will be smiling with satisfaction if he reads this.
I work at UW-Bothell and, in case you don't know during the fall and winter, thousands and I really mean thousands of American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) come to roost in the North Creek wetland in our campus.
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| American Crows arrived by the thousands in UW-Bothell |
I was asked by Leslie Ashbaugh, the Director of the CUSP (Center for University Studies and Programs) at UW-Bothell, to teach a class about crows. She is the main instigator of this class and I am so thankful for it, as I think I have never enjoyed teaching a class on campus as much as this.
My students and I are learning so much about crows and other corvids. Not only about their natural history, but also other aspects related to the interactions between them and humans. This has become a fantastic journey that I am sharing with 48 undergrads at UW-Bothell this Winter of 2014.
Thus, we all want to share with others what we are learning in this class. Follow us as we share our adventures learning all about crows!
Ursula Valdez, PhD (Instructor)
Welcome, to you as well. A question came up this week: I saw an adult crow which seemed to be brown, albeit dark brown and dull colored. Would this be age related, diet, seasonal? It behaved within norms, scavenging a McDonald's parking lot, was good sized, moved appropriately. I have not found anything on this.
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