Friday thing : bird mobile
AKA my favorite murder.
“I saw a crow building a nest, I was watching him very carefully, I was kind of stalking him and he was aware of it. And you know what they do when they become aware of someone stalking them when they build a nest, which is a very vulnerable place to be? They build a decoy nest. It’s just for you. … That’s a form of intelligence that’s very curious.”1 - Tom Waits
A few years ago, when I first quit teaching and had visions of being a For Real Writer in my newly redone Room of Requirement, my husband bought this bird mobile for me. It is marketed as ravens according to the designers, though some are noticeably smaller with more crow-like beaks and a flat fan tail, but regardless both species are wildy smart2 & sleek and I love them.
The laser-cut mat board used for the birds is beautifully detailed, showing off their corvid wing ‘fingers’ & feet;3 they’re arranged gracefully on sturdy yet fine wire + balanced precisely to move subtly with the slight breezes in my office space. When I find myself scattered or unfocused4 I gaze up at them, strategically positioned above my writing calendar, and follow their quiet flight for a bit. Like the birds themselves, I feel intelligent & clever most of the time but am also distracted by shiny fun things and/or get urges to aggressively attack others, especially if they’re being productive; watching these paper versions of my kindred spirits helps calm & restart my brain. Or, they knowingly nod permission to go create mischief for awhile, which some scientists think might actually be how we stay so bright & crafty.
Anyway. I’m wondering if maybe this Substack is my decoy nest…
What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes and ears, as close to us and everyone in the world, as universal as a bird? ~ David Attenborough
This is true! Not that I necessarily doubted the bird knowledge Tom Waits possesses but it’s always good to get back-up sources.
I love that the article about their intelligence has this “related” page explaining how they’re also jerks. Spoiler: it’s all a big misunderstanding!
And disputed beaks…
AKA often