Today, April 27th, at raven + crow studio, we celebrate the little-known quasi-holiday of International Crow and Raven Appreciation Day—a day of recognition of our corvid friends seemingly relegated to the pages of Facebook and this Web journal.

Though not yet recognized as an official bank holiday in the States, we hold out hope here at the studio for national + international recognition and—with any luck—widespread, appropriately flamboyant parades full of over-the-top avian floats, marching bands, and (obviously) bizarre raven- and crow-themed costumes.

We’d obviously petition the high courts to have the nomenclature altered slightly before official recognition to have the proper name be International Raven and Crow Appreciation Day…though we get that the resulting acronym’s not quite as palatable as ICRAD.

Above, a detail of a piece we commissioned by friend + talented artists Deirdre McConnell years back; full scan below (click to open full-width in a new browser window).

And happy ICRAD, all! Give your favorite raven and/or crow a hug today!

Or don’t. That likely wouldn’t go well for either party involved.

Maybe just join the Facebook group and (if it’s not too late), do as they ask and celebrate by wearing black today!

raven+crow_deirdre-mcconnell2