The saga of an American Crow, part one.

There are a number of takeaways from this story. You can skip to them at the end if you’re short on time.

With everything going on in the world today, you’d think the life of one common wild bird is probably insignificant. But this little guy would think otherwise.

Kizzy, an American Crow, was kept by an elderly aunt in a parrot cage for over twenty years. He was fed dry dog food with little opportunity to go outside of its cage. Whether he ever could or not, Kizzy is unable to fly. When the aunt became ill last year, Kizzy found its way to our house.

The American Crow (Corvus Brachyrhynchos) is a common bird throughout the US. I’m sure you’ve heard their distinctive Caaw-Caaw call often and didn’t really think much about them. They’re considered migratory birds as well as an agricultural pest. They’re incredibly smart. They’re one of the few birds known to use tools and will remember a person’s face, especially if the person was kind to them.

It’s illegal to keep one. It’s not illegal to kill them.

I had just finished the renovation to our kitchen and was making plans to do the same to our front room. The front room had been used for storing materials and tools for the kitchen and we were still contemplating what to do with it. But since it was now empty, it only seemed right to give it to Kizzy. We lined the floor with construction paper, put in some branches and hooked up the spare TV. We trashed the cage.

Kizzy was in bad shape. His feathers were a mess and he looked weak and sickly. We didn’t know much about crows, so we reached out to a friend who rehabilitates wild animals as well as our veterinarian. The friend helped us furnish and arrange Kizzy’s room and the vet looked him over.

Since Kizzy is a migratory bird and illegal to own, the vet suggested we look into getting a permit. We really didn’t want to keep him permanently, and this would eventually let us find him a forever home once he was healthier and we needed the room back.

We did some research and contacted the US Fish and Wildlife regional office. The USFW does offer permits for the possession of migratory birds for rehabilitation and education. But as Kizzy wouldn’t be able to do either and we didn’t qualify for these, it was suggested that we apply for a special application permit which would allow us to keep Kizzy as a “retired” educational bird.

We submitted our application and $100 fee to USFW.

USFW will not issue a permit without a State concurrence and they reached out to Texas Parks and Wildlife. TP&W also has a permit program for migratory birds, but only for rehabilitation and education. No special permit; no provisions for an old bird like Kizzy.

I pleaded with them to at least provide a Letter of No Objection, considering Kizzy’s situation. TP&W was adamant in their refusal to give a permit or concurrence, citing they had no precedence for this. Our options were to hand it over to a permitted rehabilitator or simply let it go; to just release it into the wild. And, as they were now aware of Kizzy, they would give us a short time to resolve this, and suggested we could possibly expect a visit by the Game Warden soon.

We had already been looking for a suitable sanctuary for Kizzy. Of the permitted facilities we looked into, none had other crows. It seemed cruel to send him to another place just to be alone. He had by now settled in nicely with us and was familiar with the family and the routine. We also set up an enclosure in the backyard where he could hang out when the weather was nice. Kizzy, for the most part, had it made.

However, we had been looking into a facility in Kanab, Utah called Best Fiends. They had some other flightless crows, and it would be a great place for Kizzy to go and be with others like him.

The regional USFW office for Utah is in Denver. Best Friend would fill out the 202-12 permit transfer form and get concurrence from the Albuquerque office. The problem was that there is not a permit to transfer from and nothing to put in the associated box on the form. This will require a conference call.

During the call, the Denver USFW agent was adamant that Kizzy needed a permit from where he was coming from and the transfer form could not be approved without it, and Best Friends could not take him. We had to get Kizzy to a permitted facility in Texas.

By now, Kizzy had become well known amongst a small group of animal rescuers, and one offered to take Kizzy under their permit without him being surrendered, so we could get him on his way to Kanab.

With the USFW transfer approved, now we just needed approval from the Utah Department of Agriculture. This required a Certified Veterinary Inspection Certificate. The inspection had to be performed by a USGA Level II, avian but not poultry, certified veterinarian. Kizzy also needed an avian influenza test, also by a special lab.

Kizzy has a new home. Now to get him there.

Not that he’s particularly fragile, but a 2-day, 1,300-mile road trip would be taxing on any animal confined to a carrier. It would be best if we could fly him commercially and get him to Best Friends as fast as possible. United and American both have flights to nearby St. George, with short layovers in Denver or Dallas respectively.

However, both airlines only allow cats and dogs in the cabin. And despite telling his story and pleading to the customer service representatives, Kizzy was denied passage.

Only a few airlines allow animals other than dogs and cats, but they are specific to only allow typical pets and not likely crows. Frontier Airlines made the exception. The flight is to Las Vegas, but Kizzy will still get to Kanab on the same day. We made sure to reiterate that it was a crow, and not a parakeet. Are you certain? Yes. Are you absolutely certain? Yes. We got a transcript of the conversation just to make sure. So, thank you Frontier.

Kizzy will be on his way soon and I’ll post a follow-up article. So why all the fuss over a common crow? For us, it’s just the right thing to do. As for the governments agencies: USFW, TP&W and USGA; they’re just following the rules.

So, here are some takeaways from Kizzy’s ordeal.

Even the life of a single old crow matters. The sun will likely still come up if he died tomorrow, but Kizzy didn’t fly into a cage 20 years ago. We’re all stewards of the lives we are responsible for. Don’t expect anyone to value your life if you don’t fundamentally value all life. Caring about one crow shows you will likely care about your neighbor.

Rules Matter. As idiotic as the process seems, the rules serve a purpose. Crows are hugely social animals, and like all birds that can fly, need to be able to fly. Taking and caging these birds, or any wild animal is cruel and unethical. We, as a society, should preserve or replicate their habitat. Individual freedom doesn’t include capturing and killing off random species of animals. Even hunting and fishing have rules meant to preserve the animals being taken.

But more so, we are a nation of laws. It may sound counterintuitive, but laws and the willingness of a collective society to follow and uphold laws, are what solidifies a democracy and protects individual freedoms.

But there comes a point when a decision to follow the rules just becomes more difficult on everyone than it needs to be. The point is not whether it matters or not, but is it right or wrong? This is ultimately the responsibility of court systems and legislature, not an individual.

The process didn’t necessarily consider the best interest for Kizzy. But for us to challenge these decisions in court would have been very costly and more time-consuming. Either by design or by consequence, most people can’t afford to challenge regulations in courts and many just go around or violate them.

Kizzy isn’t just an old crow. His plight is a reflection of our society and values. Stay tuned, more to follow.