Bird Bath Crows

09/12/2024

story and photos by Derek Doeffinger

Shortly after cleaning and refilling our bird bath, a crow landed just above it in the front yard crab apple tree. It surveyed the area and then began cawing.

Although I had no idea what it was saying, I was hoping to figure it out. I couldn’t see any other crows in the area but for five minutes it repeatedly called out. Then far down the street two crows appeared and flew in to join it. Now three crows sat on the branch above the bird bath, looking down at the bath and back at each other.

What was going on here? I have some experience with crows, having befriended a few one winter with leftover doughnut bits. One, I called Gary because he reminded me of a friend who when it came to achieving food goals was an idiot savant. So was Gary the crow.

He loved his doughnut bits which I threw into the front driveway. He even came to recognize my car. If he saw it return early in the morning he’d be the first on the scene to see if I had made a doughnut run. He clearly resented the days I didn’t.

One day when he found nothing in the driveway, he somehow spotted me in my small office overlooking the backyard. He flew onto the telephone line which came into the back of the house at the level of my window and started bouncing on it while looking at me. I got the message. I went out the front door and threw a piece of doughnut into the driveway to the waiting Gary (the crow). He soon had me trained and did his little telephone line dance for the rest of the winter.

The bird bath crows began taking turns bathing. I watched. Two were quite tentative. They clung to the rim of the bath and then hesitantly stepped into it and frisked about a bit, dipping their heads, taking sips, lightly fluttering their wings, then returning to the branch–a bit damp but not much more.

The third enthusiastically plunged into the bath. It leaned to the right and then to the left. It extended its wings to partially immerse them, and several times shook like a bathed puppy, spraying droplets in all directions. Judging by the messy state of the bath after they left, that last one had definitely cleaned itself. And probably, put on a good demonstration.

Of course, I can’t be sure, but I’m convinced I witnessed momma crow teaching two of her kids how to take a bath.

Derek Doeffinger spent a few decades at Kodak explaining how people can take better pictures and then encouraging them to use Kodak products — especially digital cameras. That last part didn’t quite work out. Fortunately during his Kodak days he became an obsessed outdoor photographer, especially of Finger Lakes waterfalls. He’s written several photos books about the Finger Lakes and digital photography, and now has written quite a few articles for Life in the Finger Lakes.