Crows are a large black bird in the corvid family, which also includes crows, magpies, and even blue jays. Ravens are famous for their size, their ability to imitate the sounds of other animals and even human speech, and their importance in superstitions and literary traditions. Crows live in the Tower of London, and it is said that Britain will collapse if they leave it (those living there are in no rush given that they are regularly fed by staff and tourists). In America, ravens are most often associated with the creepy poet Edgar Allan Poe, whose famous poem “The Raven” was about a talking bird visiting a grieving man who thinks the animal is some kind of visitor from the land of the dead.

And maybe good old Eddy really was right. Because even if ravens and their strange behavior are not actually signs of the afterlife, they are certainly capable of making people believe that they are. In fact, this woman and her talking raven have a theory that the species’ love of mimicry might be what fuels most of the legends about spooky occurrences in the woods and other wild places.

In this video, a crow keeper, which has to be one of the coolest designations out there, explains why she thinks they’re crows, and not ghosts, mimics, skinwalkers, or other beings supernaturals that haunt our woods. and wilderness.

Related: Brilliant Raven Playing With a ‘Shape Sorting’ Toy Has People Impressed

It’s common these days to hear scary stories of people calling out to you in the woods, of “knocked doors” in the middle of nowhere, and of sounds echoing near and far at once. Are they ghosts? Big foot? Other ghouls roaming the mountain halls? There is even a folk monster called a mime.

What if it was still a bird?

Crows are master imitators

According to this woman, they are just crows. Ravens and other corvids are masters of mimicry. She says they are equal better than parrotswho simply copy the sounds of their squeaky parrot voices, while the crows take the time to actually sound exactly like what they are imitating. She claims that her raven, Fable, can make over a hundred different sounds. “It can look like me, it can look like other people, like a droplet of water, a knock on a door, a machine…” the list goes on.

It makes sense that if you hear a sound coming from one place and then another, you may notice a bird flitting among the treetops and playing mimicry games. Are these “tree banging” sounds that Bigfoot researchers are talking about as the sound of crows clicking? Is the disembodied “hello” of the forest just a solitary bird?

Granted, it’s not necessarily less scary.

In the video, she demonstrates how her crow asks for a kiss by making the “mwah” sound, but – if you listen closely – she also imitates the sound of her human breathing. Now imagine hearing that at night.

My rule for recognizing crows in the wild

How to say the difference between a crow and a crowsimplified:

1. If it looks like a crow, it’s a crow.

2. If you’re not sure, it’s a crow.

3. If you’re thinking, DEAR GOD, WHAT IS THAT, it’s a crow.

Hope this helps!

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