Crow Dance
Yesterday (February 12, 2024) I was out for a walk with my 10-month-old baby in her stroller. We live very close to Beach Drive in Washington DC as it goes into Rock Creek Park and the National Zoo, so we often go down that way from Calvert Street down Rock Creek Parkway.
My daughter is very engaged with everything she sees in the world right now, and especially loves to point to birds. Just past the Calvert and RC Parkway intersection, I heard some crows calling overhead and saw the baby pointing. "Those are crows!" I told her, and turned to look at them with her.
It was a group of maybe 6 or 7 American crows flying overhead. But just as I turned to look, I saw something incredible, something I have never seen before.
Two of the crows engaged each other in mid-air. Their bodies curved to each other, touching or holding at both ends, so that together they formed a circle. They twirled together like that, the circle making several complete spins like a frisbee, before breaking apart again and flying on with the rest of their companions.
I stood there, still staring at the sky after the birds were out of sight. It happened so fast, was so incredibly beautiful and wholly unexpected, that I could hardly process what I had seen. Eventually I turned back to the baby and told her we had seen something amazing. I wouldn't have seen it if she hadn't pointed—my little naturalist.
Later I spoke to my naturalist friend Stephen Lyn, who explained that based on what I described and the time of year, that I had likely seen a part of this couple's mating ritual and pair bonding. It certainly was intimate based on what I saw. I can best describe it as a dance. I feel incredibly lucky to have seen something so fleeting and beautiful. Another moment of wonder in the natural world, right here in the neighborhood where we walk every day.
🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤
