White-Wing never speaks. Her peers caw incessantly, but she always arrives in silence and gets her point across with her presence.

So when all the cawing in the world didn’t seem to be pulling me away from trying to find migrants in the park yesterday…

Fox Sparrow foraging in the yews

as I finally turned to walk back toward the crows, White-Wing flew toward me and landed just a few feet away. Her body language conveyed, “don’t worry, I’ll get her attention.”

So why doesn’t she talk?

(a) She’s mute;

(b) She’s low in the hierarchy;

(c) She’s too cool;

(d) None of the above.

One thing’s for sure. She doesn’t mind the one-on-one, in fact, she invites it. But as soon as she’s ready to leave, she tries to beat the camera.

And she wins every time.