The Jungle Crow (Corvus macrorhynchos), (Japanese カラス), is specific to Southeast Asia, and most prevalent in Japan.  During my annual Hokkaido nature photo tour, I often spot and photograph the Jungle Crow and ravens, but let's not forget anyone can photograph a bird on a stick!   When photographing wildlife, I look for that rare shot that stands out from snapshots.  Eye contact is paramount in your shot when photographing singular wildlife, pairs, or family/flock; eye contact gives the viewer an up close and personal experience that most never get to experience.  When photographing herds, flocks, troops, dozens or hundreds of animals in motion, photographers can sometimes replace the power of eye contact, but I recommend 9.9 out of 10 times to have the animals facing you, with some head and eye contact for that gallery hanging image of a lifetime.   Don’t forget, eye contact lets your audience connect with your photography.  As for zoo shots, the last time I was in a zoo I was six years old, and I still remember how tired and sad the animals appeared.  Wildlife sanctuaries on the other hand, can be great places to visit as they mostly care for injured or extinct animals, but still I prefer 100% pure nature photography in the wildness, especially while I am leading my annual Hokkaido photo tour.

The First Nations People of Japan, the Ainu, venerate the crow as one of their kamuy, or spiritual guides.  The Ainu legend goes that the Evil One woke before the dawn with the single purpose of devouring the sun knowing that human beings would be unable to survive without its life giving warmth, but The Creator knew of the Evil One’s intention and created the crow, which then flew into the Evil One’s mouth and snatched the sun away before it could swallow the sun, so the human world would not remain in eternal darkness.  It is thought that crows having performed such a feat now feel that they have the right of way and may do as they please.  They are highly intelligent brave, bold, and sometimes cheeky among humans having saved the world from eternal darkness.  First Nations People globally praise and have compassion for the crow recognizing it as a deity.  If an injured crow is found, it will be nursed back to health, and treated like family and not put in a cage. Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation, Athabaskan, Cahto, Tahltan, Inuit, Haida, and all First Nations peoples have cultural traditions tied to the crow and raven, in some cases as in the Haida legend, crows played a key role in the creation of human beings.  A raven saw several small creatures hiding inside an extraordinary clam shell, so the crow sang beautifully to coax the creatures into the world, and in response, although some were reluctant to emerge at first, human beings ultimately emerged and joined the crow in the world.  Considering these legends, it makes sense that in some cases crows and ravens have been known to reside side-by-side with people.  I’ve always been neighborly and welcoming to crows and ravens.  A person who has spent years in the backcountry can always trust crows and ravens to report back regarding an accident or an incoming storm and potential natural disasters such as fires and other happenings.  Crows also exhibit human characteristics in their family group behaviors.  Mated pairs share territories with their grown children, as human parents provide for their children.  Crows in the city enjoy a 5 - 6 hectare territory in which to nest and live while their countryside crow counterparts have territories spanning up to 49 hectares, one hectare being the approximate size of an olympic track & field stadium ground.  Furthermore, the mature crow offspring stay in the family group and assist in raising the next brood of new born birds until they are old enough to take their own mate and territory.  The Jungle crow is distinguished by its huge beak and the blue-black sheen to its feathers.  Its wingspan reaches 104 cm (41 in), a body length of up to 50 cm (20 in), and an average weight 650 g (23 oz).  They have a life span of 20 plus years.  Their call has a slightly deeper pitch than the common crow (Corvus corax), and when hunting in nature they have been known to imitate the knocking of woodpeckers or the calls of other birds to lure them-in.

Interestingly when most city people imagine crows, they think of them in a cityscape environment, but I am not a city person and I have had many experiences spotting and photographing them along side Steller’s Sea Eagles (Haliaeetus pelagicus) (Japanese オオワシ (Oowashi)) vigilantly watching for a scrap of prey to escape unnoticed so it can swoop down and collect it.  At our country side beach home, crows, and dozens of other birds visit on a daily basis, and they are all welcome, but from time to time, I watch out for crows that are hunting sparrows in our 100 year old cherry blossom tree, and I chase them off.   However, in Tokyo a former governor created a Taskforce to destroy nests and outright eliminate crows.  However, the reason why the Jungle Crow numbers were increasing was due to trash left out in the open, waiting for garbage trucks to pick it up.  And these bags were easily broken open and combed over by the curious crows for delicious morsels, and the rise in concentration of Tokyo metropolitan residents was steadily contributing to the problem.  Finding the aggressive method only moderately successful, the government decided to hand out blue nets to communities that did not have commercial garbage bins, these nets were distributed to cover trash left on the street for pick-up making it more difficult for crows to break into the garbage bags for food.  Jungle crows in Japan are most widely renowned for their ingenuity in cracking nuts with the unwitting cooperation of humans in the communities in which they live.  Rather than spend the energy needed to crack open a nut with their own beaks, the crows find a well-trafficked roadway and place the nut they want to eat along the road where the tires of passing cars will strike the nut and break it open for them.  If the initial placement is incorrect, or if the cars miss it, the crow will then move the nut to a different location in hopes of a different car doing all the work for it or simply drop it while perched on a nearby power line.  On a recent Hokkaido nature birding tour, however, I saw a clever crow wait for a battle to break out between Steller’s Sea Eagles and White-tailed Eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) (Japanese オジロワシ (Ojirowashi)) over caught prey, waiting for an opportune moment to steal away the catch and then make itself scarce to enjoy its ill gotten prize. Crows and ravens on the pack-ice squawk back at the Steller's Sea Eagles and take a stand but quickly and smartly back off for fear of incurring the prehistoric raptor’s wrath.   Some smaller fish are trapped in river inlets during low tide, so crows and ravens are able to catch and enjoy fresh fish, their palate resembling those of the Glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus), (Japanese ユリカモメ (yurikamome)) along the Hokkaido coastline.  Due to the fierce territorial nature of another of Hokkaido’s winter residents, the Red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis), Japanese タンチョウ (tanchou)), crows do not try to mix into their flocks for the purpose of feeding.  In my 30 years leading my annual Hokkaido birding photo tours, I have never seen a Steller's Sea eagle catching and eating a raven, but I have seen the Steller's Sea eagle, an ice age relic that has survived three ice ages without the need to evolve, catch seagulls when the fishing is slow.