Critically Endangered
In a non-leap year I would be doing 2 paintings for a halfway mark. Because it is leap year not only do we have to have an extra day of 2020, but instead of having 182.5 be halfway through so I can do 182 and 183, I should only be doing 183. I decided I didn't like that. So, this is painted at about 8"x10" instead of my normal 4"x6". It means I can get a bit more detail in the painting.
These are found on Guam and the island of Rota. They are the only corvid in Micronesia Unfortunately, introduced brown tree snakes have not only been decimating the crow population, but also other birds as well as various small animals on Guam. In fact one scientific article I saw says that the crow is extirpated from Guam, and I would be inclined to believe it. The article was from when they were checking the DNA of the crows there several years after the last survey done. Even though the brown tree snake is not on the island of Rota, the crow still is declining there. Many people on Rota are apparently happy to let scientists have access to their land, helping however they can to hopefully keep the crow from going extinct there, while others see them as a barrier to development. There are so few, only about 60 breeding pairs on Rota, that any catastrophe such as a natural disaster or bird flu would likely wipe out all the birds.
I love crows so much. Seriously, I may have a lot of favourite animals, but they are one of probably 5 that all are competing for the top spot. Crows, Octopuses, Wolves (and dogs...let's just say canines), Horses, and Hippos are my joint absolute favourites. I am occasionally getting to hear a crow near us. I have even tried using a crow call that one of my kids got me. It seems that they may be getting braver about moving into our neighbourhood. I don't know what my neighbours would think, but I'd love to be able to call for them, and suddenly have my house look like it comes straight from the Hitchcock movie Birds. Yeah, I know, that probably wouldn't go over well. Maybe if I just have a small murder that comes to say hi?
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