A serious threat plagues the residents of Sunnyvale, California. And no, it isn’t vampires — it’s birds. Murders of crows descended on the Silicon Valley community in the last five years, but their numbers swelled during the pandemic. San Francisco’s KPIX Channel 5 reports that the birds have divebombed residents, left droppings all over the city, and disrupted sleep with their excessive cawing. On some nights, the city skies look like a modern knock-off of a Hitchcock movie.
Huge crowds of birds can naturally make people uneasy. Ornithophobia is a real thing. It can cause symptoms ranging from chest pain and nausea to anxiety and refusal to go outside. But humans developed cultural beliefs and superstitions about these winged creatures long ago. Are they good luck or bad? It all depends on who you ask.
Carefully Counting Your Crows
Crows are either a good sign or a bad omen in many cultures. They were the companions of gods and goddesses: the Morrigan in Celtic mythology and Odin in ancient Norse legends. Several Indigenous American civilizations venerated both crows and ravens. In these cultures, the birds represented intelligence, cunning, and transformation.
While some societies saw crows as harbingers of death, this wasn’t a universal view. It was the number of crows one saw that made the difference. Historian Patti Wigington explains that one crow signified bad luck, but two, three, or four crows meant good things: luck, health, or wealth. Add one more crow, however, and you’re in big trouble. Five crows meant illness was on the way, and six crows warned of impending death.
A Mélange of Magpie Madness
As members of the Corvidae family, magpies are distant cousins of crows. They also share crows’ and ravens’ legendary intelligence. Encyclopedia Britannica mentions that the birds can create and use tools, work in teams, and play games. They’re one of only four species that pass the “mirror test,” recognizing their own reflections.
Magpies’ reputations also vary among different cultures. Traditional Chinese and Korean beliefs depict the birds as bringers of good luck, as Owlcation’s Rupert Taylor points out. Conversely, magpies were associated with witchcraft in medieval England. Scottish superstitions claimed that they each held a drop of the devil’s blood. Another legend claims that they did not mourn Jesus’s crucifixion as the other birds did.
Counting birds isn’t reserved for crows. According to Bird Watching Buzz, the same applies to magpies. An old nursery rhyme about magpies starts with “one for sorrow” and then spells out the other supposed details.
When Species Doesn’t Matter
Some bird legends don’t specify which species are or are not problematic. Some Sunnyvale diners have been victims of fly-by droppings, but this is considered a sign of good luck in Russia. Got a bird tapping and rapping at your window? It may be a departed loved one dropping by to say hello. But birds flying into your home are bad news. Apparently, it’s a warning that someone will die — or not, since some superstitions claim that it signals positive changes in one’s future.
Making Sense of the Myths
You may give birds a mere passing thought in your everyday life. But bird superstitions can sometimes seem like a weird numbers game. More birds don’t always bring more problems unless you’re in Sunnyvale getting dunked on by crows. And sometimes, it’s the type of bird or its behavior that matters.
Psychologists currently debate how superstitions develop and whether they have useful purposes. We can always use our senses, logic, and critical thinking to navigate life. In the meantime, try not to walk under any ladders.