EVANSTON — Artist, musician and author Ed Close, dressed in a black suit and top hat, a look similar to the creature featured in his newly published book, “The Crow Who Would Be King,” entertained people at Pete’s Coffee Shop on Saturday, May 24. The book features more than 20 of his fine pen and ink drawings and illustrations plus stories of his friends the crows who live in the fir and spruce trees outside his apartment building.

“I hope to change your mind about these birds that are my friends,” Close said. “Some people think they are pests and drive other birds off but that is not what happened in the trees where I live.”

Close told the audience that a variety of birds lived in the trees there until the spring of 2024, when the power company sent a company out of Salt Lake City to prune the trees away from the power lines. When they trimmed the trees on the side next to the power lines, they cut every limb off one side and left the tree totally bare of branches at the top and the many birds that lived there lost their entire homes in an instant.

Also, when the power company cut down a juniper tree to make room for the power pole, they poured poison into the ground to kill the roots and that poison spread to another fir tree which stands today, totally dead. After this second attack on the trees the variety of birds did not come back, as their nests were too exposed to predators.

“Nature abhors a vacuum; so, a murder of crows and magpies and blue jays moved in. The song birds were victims to progress as was the dead tree,” Close said. “The crows aren’t afraid of predators so they built nests in the trees. A murder of crows will, even as a group, attack a house cat. One day I saw one of the crows eating kibbles that I had put out for a neighborhood dog that stops by so I started feeding the crows kibbles. A friendship began when the biggest crow shouted out, “crack” when I threw out the kibbles; that is when I named him Crack.”

Crows try to communicate with humans, and Close said his neighbors and friends who stop by have seen him talking to the crows. He said the crows starting showing up around 10 a.m., when he is doing his garden chores and he began leaving kibbles out for them. They eventually made a home in the fir trees. Other crows in the murder joined Crack as did his partner, whom Close named Doris.

Regarding feeding kibbles to the crows, Close said he had researched what was in kibbles and found there was nothing that would harm the birds. They will also eat fresh fruit and fermented crab apples. He discovered they love Ritz crackers by giving them different kinds of crackers until he found the brand they would eat.

“Crows are as smart as any 7-year-old kid,” Close said. “They remember you and whether you are kind or mean. Science studies show that if you are mean to them, crows can seek revenge for up to 17 years. They also mourn their dead; one of my crows was killed with a BB gun and the murder of crows held what looked like a funeral for it; standing around the dead bird and cawing.”

Once when Close had his car in the parking lot next to the treed area, he had music playing and Crack started bouncing to the beat of it and before long Doris joined him. When Close tuned the music off, the crows had a “fit.” He told of many experiences with the crows moving and flying in rhythm to music he was playing on his car radio.

Close said the reason he wrote the book was he wants to donate any proceeds from the sale of “The Crow Who Would Be King,” to protect endangered birds. He is in the process of contacting nonprofit bird organizations. The book is available on LuLu.com for $88.63. He said that is the minimum price the publisher will let him put on the large book, which is full of his drawings.

“The crows are my friends; I’ve named all of the birds in Crack’s murder. I can recognize their different sounds and movements,” Close said. “I can tell when they are happy and when they are mad. It’s kind of like having a dog for a pet.”