Indigo is the newest addition to the Hawks Aloft family of education ambassadors. Found in Oregon as a youngster, she was kept as a pet indoors. We assume that her rescuers, who cared for her very much, were not aware that it is illegal to keep a crow without the appropriate permits. When her rescuers needed to move, they turned her in to the Cascades Raptor Center. So the little beauty grew up with nearly constant human contact. As you can imagine, she is a human imprint. When she arrived, she was afraid to be outside, particularly after dark, and was terrified of anything flying near her.
Indigo has an immediate and very humorous reaction to being in the sun. She starts by fluffing out all the feathers on her neck. Then one wing comes out and her head drops to one shoulder. She opens her mouth and looks as if she is about to pass out. It doesn’t matter if she is outside in the heat or sitting near a window in the air-conditioned Hawks Aloft office.
One thing that Indigo absolutely loves is a good bath. Here you can see her during bath time at the Hawks Aloft office. She does look a little like a drenched cat, doesn't she? You can see right into her ears when she's wet. Of course, she doesn't care how she looks. Bath time is her favorite game and she will dive back in over and over until the whole area is soaked and her bowl is empty. It is obviously great fun!Indigo is a beautiful, engaging bird. In her short time with us, she has already captivated her fair share of utility workers and children, eliminating many negative beliefs regarding crows. As you can tell, she is quite the character, so you can expect us to post more amusing stories about her.
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1 comment:
Hi! I wanted to correct a couple of errors in your blog about the crow we gave you ... . One, the woman who gave her to us because she was moving had had her for 3 years. She said she let her fly around the house but in our experience the bird was clearly uncomfortable flying, it took a lot to make her take off, she always flew in circles going the same direction, and she just seemed quite stressed by it all. I have no idea of what kind of cage she was kept in. I think they may have brought her to us in a parakeet cage - but the woman was upset because she was 'only' going to have a 10'x16' cage if she stayed here with us and we were told she was used to much bigger space. But as I said, she's very reluctant to fly - though I hope she gets over that.
Also - the behavior in sunlight noted in the blog is not fear of the sun, it's sunbathing - i.e., LOVE of the sun. All our corvids do that - the mouth gapes open, head down, crouching, wings spread - soaking up all the sun she can get. NOT their most intelligent look, I always say! She IS, however, afraid of the outside - and that might be what was happening when the blinds were opened in the office.
At any rate - I'm so glad she has such a great home with you all and is making new crow converts on her educational outings!
Louise Shimmel, Executive Director, Cascades Raptor Center
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