Hannah Bodi was “so excited” when she found four black feathered costume wings at a yard sale recently because it was the perfect accoutrement for a special party she was taking her kids to in Sweet Home.
It was her youngest, Eleanor Bodi, 5, whom she knew would be most interested in the gathering.
That’s because Eleanor loves to collect shiny trinkets, and she’s always wearing her necklaces and bracelets around the house.
“She acts like a little crow, just constantly collecting shiny things,” Bodi said.
The party – a crow party – was held at the Sweet Home Public Library on Saturday, May 30, where guests dressed in black, traded trinkets and snacked on pecking food.
A group of birds, or a flock, is termed a “murder,” but in this case, a crow party is a gathering of humans in something of a whimsical tribute to the social behavior of crows. The black birds are known for collecting and trading small treasures.
The event typically includes participants dressing in black, contributing trinkets and small treasures for trade, and thematic games and snacks. There could also be a vote for who brings the best trinket.
At the library, kids and adults gathered around tables where bowls of tidbits were filled by library staff for pecking through, and a few of the more brave ones approached others to make trades with the things they brought.
Programming Librarian Kira Mikutaitis said she got the idea for the crow party from the Albany Public Library, which hosted an end-of-summer crow party last year.
Mikutaitis said to herself, “I think our community would really love that. It’d be something really fun, and we have lots of crows out here, so why not?”
She understands that kids, regardless of age, love rocks and shiny things and such. Even adults, she said “are a little attracted to anything a little shiny, right?”
The crow party gives people an opportunity to pull out the “cool things” they treasure, show them off, and trade the things they don’t appreciate as much anymore “so they can be somebody else’s special treasures.”
The Albany library is hosting another one this year for kids in grades 5-12 on Aug. 22 from 3-5 p.m.
