Spooky season is upon us and so we are bringing you a tale of Halloween’s eeriest avian mascot.

Emma Terry is friends with basically everyone in her town. She personifies a rainbow—she has bouncy blonde hair, sparkly cat-eye glasses, and a closet full of bright colors. But for the last decade, she's been trying to befriend the one creature that seems like the opposite of her vibe: the cemetery-lurking, ominous crow.

The more Emma observed and read about crows, the more their morbid reputation seemed… off. She learned crows drop nuts into crosswalks so car tires will crack them open, that they can recognize human faces, that they can use tools... She even heard a rumor that, sometimes, crows might leave gifts for humans who are nice to them.

So she started leaving treats for them in a basket outside her home, nearly every day, for seven years. Then one summer morning, she looked under the basket and saw something glinting. Crow scientist and ornithologist Dr. John Marzluff helps us figure out whether a friendship between a person and a bird is a real thing, or just a story we wish were true.

Special thanks to Emma Terry and Dr. John Marzluff. Check out Emma's art and ceramics at madebyemmapie.com. And if you want to help scientists study crows, download Crow Scientist, a free app made by John and Colleen Marzluff.

Terrestrials was created by Lulu Miller with WNYC studios. This episode was produced by Tanya Chawla with sound design and editing by Mira Burt-Wintonick. Sarah Sandbach is our Executive Producer. Our team also includes Ana González, Alan Goffinski, Natalia Ramirez, and Joe Plourde. Fact checking by Sophie Samiee.

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Terrestrials

The Goths: Befriending Clever Crows