In the Company of Crows and Ravens

Environmental History, Apr 2007 by Melendy, Cynthia

In the Company of Crows and Ravens. By John M. Marzluff and Tony Angell. Foreword by Paul Erblich. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2005. xx 400 pp. Includes appendix, illustrations, notes, bibliography, and index. Cloth $30.00.

The crow's stamp on human culture is unsurpassed by any other nonhuman species: For centuries crows have lent their stark forms and mystifying characters to human expression. We "eat crow" when we are wrong, we measure distance "as the crow flies," and use "crowbars" to pry things apart. "Jim Crow" laws mar United States history and we name our rock bands, sports teams, food products, and alcohol after them. In late October, their forms haunt our lawns and houses as symbols for Halloween. Their appeal lies in their intelligence, sociability, language, and family life; they learn quickly from experience and convey their knowledge to each other. They engage in complicated social rituals and, like homo sapiens, develop regional dialects and behavioral cultures. But it is not just their appeal that makes them worthy of study. Because of their coevolutionary relationship with humans, their preservation and protection also argues for the same kind of relationship with other species. Human influences both on the cultural and biological evolution of all species should convince us that care should be taken to understand and respect the Homo sapiens' stamp upon the earth.

Author Marzluff and illustrator Angell explain how crows and man have for centuries been involved in a "cultural coevolution"; no other animal has been as influential to human culture. Shifts in our culture cause crows to adapt, and in response, our culture reacts. This cultural coevolution between humans and corvids probably began in the late Pleistocene, when European Neanderthals and ancient Homo sapiens were actively hunting large mammals throughout Europe and Asia. At this time of considerable and rapid brain growth for evolving humans, it is likely that the raven culture of persistence, thievery, and caching would have coevolved with humans' meat transport, storage, and defense strategies.

In their decades of observing crows and ravens, Marzluff and Angell have compiled a remarkable catalog of crow feats. For example, Japanese carrion crows use moving cars as nutcrackers; Seattle crows, after being trapped by the authors, have learned to avoid them, even in the midst of thousands of University of Washington students.

In the Company of Crows and Ravens explores the various and changing relationships between humans and corvids across time and place, and the authors find that cultural influence can be a two-way street. In the twentyfirst century, humans' strong, long-standing ecological and evolutionary linkages with crows continue to foster a unique pattern of coevolution; in our cities, they have mastered and shared knowledge about human refuse while avoiding harm from poisons, chemicals, and nonedible trash. Given the choice between french fries in a plain bag or a McDonald's bag, crows choose the branded bag every time. Because humans change culturally more frequently than genetically, crows affect us where it counts-in our culture, and we affect them where it counts for most nonhuman species-in their ecology, culture, and even genetic composition. Beautifully illustrated, loaded with information, and written with a light but edifying and scholarly tone, In the Company of Crows and Ravens is recommended for scholars, all avian and corvid lovers, and those concerned about human and avian ecology.

Cynthia Melendy is a visiting assistant professor at the University of South Florida, where she teaches material culture and environmental history. She birds in her spare time.