Man has the 'power' to summon an army of crows at will and the internet is in awe

Editor's note: This article was originally published on March 10, 2023. It has since been updated.

We have all heard about "animal whisperers" who are in tune with the issues that pets are going through. It was a phrase that became popular in the 2000s after a dog behaviorist started helping pet owners with their dogs. However, have you ever thought that a person could call out to birds and they would fly over to the spot? In a video posted on Reddit by u/Imkesu, first, a man can be heard saying, "Now, our Akku brother is going to call crows. There are no crows in the sky for now." Then Akku begins to imitate crow sounds while looking up at the sky. At first, a few crows can be seen and soon the sky is filled with birds. Everyone around can be seen clapping and laughing as they watch Akku's special talent. 

The video has 52k upvotes on Reddit and is captioned, "Somewhere in India, there is a 'crowman' who can summon crows." Many on the internet were astounded by his abilities, as was user, u/HavocReigns, who commented, "He must have figured out their 'Come help me' call. Because if a crow gets pissed or scared, it can sure call up a few dozen of its friends out of nowhere. He called out the cavalry, and they all showed up and said 'Oh, it's just that a---hole again. Who taught him the secret call?'" Another user, u/Admirable-Natural676 commented, "I want these powers," and u/Veruka_Salt wrote, "I wonder how he figured this out..." 

The same video was posted on Twitter by @ikaveri and has more than 24k views. It is captioned, "I wish I had this kinda talent!" Many shared that they have seen people doing similar things in other parts of India. @dipunair commented, "See this is common in Kerala.. during Shraddh we call the crows in this fashion to come and feed on the Shraddh offerings to the departed... :)" @BharatDevotee wrote, "His call sounds like a distress call of a crow hence every bird, which is nearby, is rushing." A third user @vscom14 commented, "Crowman from India. Our first superhero."

According to Arapahoe libraries, crows are known to be birds with high intelligence and adaptability. They can remember faces, and they have huge brains. They apparently have the largest brain-to-body ratio for any bird. Another interesting fact is that they hold funerals for the deceased. To be more precise, studies have shown that they are usually seen around the deceased to learn about any potential dangers nearby. 

In another story about crows, a company in Sweden launched a program last year to recruit and train crows in the city to pick up cigarette butts and dispose of them properly. For every cigarette butt thrown into a bespoke machine designed by the firm, the crow receives a little food in return. 

Christian Günther-Hanssen, the founder of Corvid Cleaning, stated, "They are wild birds taking part on a voluntary basis." He estimates that the program could save at least 75 percent of the costs involved with picking up cigarette butts in Södertälje. "The estimation for the cost of picking up cigarette butts today is around 80 öre [Swedish change] or more per cigarette butt, some say two kronor," he explained. "If the crows pick up cigarette butts, this would maybe be 20 öre per cigarette butt. The saving for the municipality depends on how many cigarette butts the crows pick up."