City of Crows

The Dirt interviews author Lyanda Lynn Haupt abot her book, "Crow Planet: Essential Wisdom from the Urban Wilderness", which explores the rise in crow populations in urbanized areas.

"Q: We are all now living in Crow Planet, a place characterized by the spread of "crow-ness." What is crow-ness? What does it say about urban ecosystems and the role people play in nature?

A: 'Crow-ness' is the ubiquitous presence of a large, native bird right in the heart of urban places. It speaks deeply to the fact that the way we create our homes and neighborhoods-both in terms of structure and personal habits– has a lot (not everything, but a lot) to do with determining the nonhuman species that can live among us, and how we might flourish together. The title of my book is Crow Planet, which has two interrelated meanings. On the one hand, it refers to a planet (our planet) on which native biodiversity is deeply threatened, and the rich variety of species is being replaced by a few dominant, successful species-species such as crows. At the same time, "Crow Planet" invokes the idea that no matter where we dwell and no matter how urban our homes, we are implicated in wildlife, and we are informed and enlivened by the presence of native, wild creatures-again, creatures such as crows. We navigate our daily lives in light of both these truths."