Have you ever been accused of being “bird brained”? Historical writing from the 1600s shows the insult of “bird-witted’ seemingly refer to fowl’s feeble function. However despite their small skulls, avians are apt to advanced cognitive function. I was exposed to this at a young age since my mother established and ran a rehabilitation centre for raptors on our rural property. Sometimes people would bring her other birds as well and we once cared for a young injured crow named Jojo. Jojo bounced back and was released from care but continued to stick around. He was a curious student of human behaviour and would regularly join us pulling weeds from the garden but never uprooted a sprouting vegetable. He even followed us to school one day but we were unaware he trailed us on our long forested walk down the driveway and then chased the school bus into town until he appeared on the playground. In Vancouver a cheeky crown quickly rose to fame stole a knife from a cordoned off crime scene. Known as “Canuck” his previous antics included riding the skytrain and sneaking sips of double-doubles from open Tim’s cups. Residents were devastated when he disappeared from the neighbourhood a few years later. The Bible indicates corvids were specially designed by the Creator to connect with humans. In Genesis 8 we see it was a raven to scout the flooded earth for dry land. In 1 Kings 17 there is the account of Elijah the prophet being fed during a drought by ravens. What an inspiration of service! Perhaps these birds thrive even amid the urban jungle for the purpose of God’s invitation to learn from these industrious and committed creatures.
