“Not a single day goes by when there aren’t a handful of crows flying around the pasture north of the ranch house.”
They aren’t really much of a menace and do little damage nowadays.
That’s not always been the case, Dad said several times. In the 1930s, evidently, the big birds were large consumers of field crops with their droppings made a huge mess.
The county used to pay bounties for crow beaks brought into the courthouse, not unlike coyote ears. Unsure what the amount, perhaps two-cents, or maybe 50-cents, but that would have been a lot in the depression days.
Supposedly, crows would roost in trees and could be shot down in numbers with a 12-gauge shotgun blast.
Many people again viewed “It’s a Wonderful Life” traditional Christmas season movie starring Jimmy Stewart. The other “Jimmy” in the show is most recognizable as well, but likely not given much of a second thought.
That’s Jimmy the Crow. No, that’s a misidentification, it’s Jimmy the Raven, according to research.
Ravens differ from crows in appearance by their larger bill, tail shape, flight pattern, and by their large size. Ravens are as big as red-tailed hawks, and crows are about the size of pigeons. The raven is all black, has a 3.5-4-foot wingspan and is around 24-27 inches from head to tail.
Though a crow is a black bird, it’s not a “blackbird.” Nor is a blackbird a crow. The common blackbird is a species of true thrush with a number of subspecies. Not a raven, crow, or blackbird by definition, the common starling is also black in 12 subspecies.
Although most farmers disagree, starlings can be beneficial to agriculture by controlling insects that do damage. However, starlings are more known as pests themselves. They often feed on fruit and sprouting crops and are a nuisance for their noise and droppings while roosting.
Right or wrong, as a youth with a rifle, crows were shot at several times, always missing. But a few blackbirds and starlings, whatever subspecies of each, have bit-the-dust. Uncertain about ever having ever seen a real raven.
Back to the story at hand. Jimmy the movie star bird is a male raven. He appeared in more than 1,000 feature films from 1938 to 1954.
Jimmy first appeared in the movie You Can’t Take It With You. Director Frank Capra would then cast the bird in every subsequent movie made.
Of course, Jimmy’s most memorable role was Uncle Billy’s pet in Building & Loan during 1946’s It’s a Wonderful Life. And as the crow that landed on the Scarecrow in 1949’s Wizard of Oz.
Owned by Hollywood animal trainer, Curly Twiford stole the bird from its Mojave Desert roost in 1934. Jimmy was trained to do an assortment of tricks including typing, opening letters, and even riding a tiny motorcycle.
Jimmy could understand several hundred words, though only around 50 were what trainer Twiford called “useful”. It took Jimmy a week to learn a new useful word, two weeks if it had two syllables.
Twiford said that Jimmy could perform any task possible for an eight-year-old child.
His human co-stars were complimentary of the bird. “When they call Jimmy, we both answer,” remarked Jimmy Stewart on the set of It’s a Wonderful Life. “That bird is the smartest actor on the set, requiring fewer re-takes than his human counterparts.”
After he had become more popular with the studio, Metro-Goldwin-Mayer had Jimmy insured for $10,000.
Lloyds of London wrote a policy to cover Jimmy’s $500 a week fee plus Curly Twiford’s $200 handler fee.
Twiford credited these fees with keeping him solvent during World War II. At one point, Jimmy had 21 “stand-ins,”15 of which were female. They would fill in for Jimmy when the scene did not require any tricks or movement.
Jimmy received a Red Cross gold medal in acknowledgement of 200 hours spent entertaining veterans after the war. His footprints were cement enshrined at a Los Angeles pet store, alongside the dog Lassie and other Hollywood animal stars.
Jimmy’s last-credited film was Three Ring Circus in 1954, after which little is known about him. Trainer Curly Twiford said that Jimmy would “probably live to be 150-years-old,” which newspapers re-printed. In reality, ravens seldom live more than 30 years in captivity.
So, of all the blackbirds that have been flying around for centuries, Jimmy the Raven is the most famous of all.
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