Families joined Manx BirdLife and Manx National Heritage at Castle Rushen to discover the behaviour, intelligence, history, and folklore of crow species on the Isle of Man through games and activities
The Crow family (also known as Corvids) on the Isle of Man consists of 7 species; Jackdaw, Magpie, Chough, Carrion Crow, Hooded Crow, Rook, and Raven.
They are a charismatic family of birds, and are referenced throughout the folklore and history of the Isle of Man.
Local and visiting families discovered the fascinating folklore and behaviour of the Crow Family through a variety of games and activities, where children and adults put their own skills and intelligence to the test.
This included building a Ravens nest which can be up to 1.5 meters wide, a Jackdaw memory game to test if they can remember faces as well as Jackdaws can, digging for dung beetles like a Chough, writing Hooded Crow folklore with quill and ink, raising water with stones like the Rook in Aesop’s Fable, and searching for a Magpie’s cached ‘food’ in a scavenger hunt around the Castle!
The toilet roll dung beetle craft was also back in action and still proving popular with all ages!
The opportunity to host this event at Castle Rushen in collaboration with Manx National Heritage allowed us to showcase the link between peoples relationship with the Crow family in the past and in present day, and remind us that we have lived alongside these birds for thousands of years.
The calligraphy activity used traditional oak-gall ink and feather quills, and features a piece of medieval artwork of a hooded Crow, whilst the ‘digging for Dung Beetles’ game addresses the current plight of the Chough and what we can do to support their populations.
Thank you to Manx National Heritage for teaming-up on this event and providing such a fitting setting in which to showcase clever crows.
