backyard birds

September 9, 2026

Sara Kate Wilkinson

Sara Kate Wilkinson

— 2 min read
Share
September 9, 2026
Bird of the Day: American crow, who I am NOT scared of and who is NOT scary

Where: the neighborhood

When: 1:10 pm

Bird Species: house sparrow, house finch, mourning dove, American crow, white-breasted nuthatch, northern cardinal

Things I Thought About:

  • In a meeting today there was an icebreaker that was Dream Vacation, and without missing a beat I said "Oldarpoi Masa Camp in Kenya." It was generally regarded as very weird that I could draw up an answer that specific that quickly.
  • Mombasa has extremely good beaches, too, I am given to understand. You can do a 15-day trip, safari parks and the beach, and the camp is largely luxury tents. Armed watchmen, because a lion could walk right into your camp. You can take a day trip to an elephant orphanage.
  • It would cost so, so much. If I ever get diagnosed with a terminal disease, I will sell everything I own and just do that. Literally a bucket list trip.
  • The plumage on that finch is nice. Really thick and defined streaks, which I usually associate with the females. Nice bird.
I like that tail, too.
  • Obviously, it's perfectly beautiful out today, when I have exactly twenty-eight minutes for a bird walk, and it looks like it will be raining in Delaware this weekend. I'm going anyway.
  • My hair, which I am growing out, looks unsettling nice today, meaning it will look like absolute dogshit when I am back in office next week.
  • I have made 1 (one) annual medical appointment. Please clap.

BOTD: American crow. I find them unsettling, because they are so large and so smart. I am always careful to ask if it's okay to take their photo. You can't really do them justice, anyway; they're simply too black to capture a great image. I may have mentioned this before, but I have read that black cat adoption rates have plummeted since the advent of influencer culture for exactly that reason.

None more black.

It is basically impossible to distinguish a fish crow from an American crow unless you hear them call. These guys were definitely American crows; "CAW" not "nyuk nyuk."

Usually when I see them they are gathering in a group, plotting and scheming and planning assassinations, so I was happy to catch a couple of them just chilling in the sunshine, noshing on some berries.

Read more