The Clever “Karasu”: Wise Old Birds Living Side by Side with Humans

A banner bearing a yatagarasu image at Kumano Nachi Daisha, one of the Kumano Sanzan shrines.

Ascroll depicts the three-legged yatagarasu inside the Kumano Nachi Daisha shrine.

A priest prays before a target decorated with karasu.

A hashiboso garasu, or carrion crow. Smaller than the hashibuto garasu, it has a short, narrow beak and a croaking call.

A hashibuto garasu jungle crow. It has a thick beak and vocalizes with a sharp, clear “Kaw!”

A miyama garasu. These rooks are distinctive for their light grey beaks with a whitish base. They migrate to Japan in the winter.

Birds stealing food from a cowshed.

A nest on an electric power pole.

A garbage collection site looted by karasu. Residents often cover trash with netting, but the wily birds can drag the bags out and rip them apart in their search for food.

Karasu perched on urban power lines. Streets below end up fouled with droppings.

Crows occupy a roadside tree, both their racket and defecation causing problems for residents.

Hashibuto karasu jungle crows like meat even more than their hashiboso carrion crow brethren do. With the discarded food available in cities, the buildings and other constructions that take the place of trees, and the absence of any raptors, their natural enemies, urban jungle crow numbers have soared.