# Corvid **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 14, 2020, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745 "2020-04-14T04:50:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745/1 "2020-04-14T04:50:03Z")
When they first gave the corona virus the name “COVID 19”, I said “Oh, so that’s where they think it came from, huh? Not bats like they said the other day?” Partner looks at me quizzically. I say “Umm, that’s a kind of animal, right? Covids? I mean it’s a taxonomic category of animal, some kind of birds I think?” She says “It says here the name comes from **CO** rona **VI** rus **D** isease of 2019”. Periodically since then I’ve been intermittently muttering to myself. “Covid, covid, what the hell’s a covid? I’m not hallucinating am I? There was a word…” Yeah. [Corvid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Corvids). Crows and stuff. (Kinda like the ones in _The Stand_, in fact). Anybody else? ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745/2 "2020-04-14T09:13:18Z")
Well, I didn’t have the think Corvids were call Covids, but I did absolutely misread COVID as CORVID and had the same assumption for the first… day or so. Probably read it as that just because I like crows and read about them a lot. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745/3 "2020-04-14T12:21:14Z")
I heard about the bat connections when I only knew about the virus as a Coronavirus. So I never made the incorrect correction. But I find Corvids fascinating and talk about them a lot. So if I had seen Covid-19 first, I probably would have made the wrong connection at first too. Crows & Ravens are among the smartest animals. Rooks & Bluejays are fascinating creatures. and then there are magpies like Heckle & Jeckle. Magpies are very smart and recognize themselves in mirrors. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745/4 "2020-04-14T12:38:37Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Well, I didn’t have the think Corvids were call Covids, but I did absolutely misread COVID as CORVID and had the same assumption for the first… day or so. With me, it lasted a few minutes before I realized my mistake. I was pissed off - how cool would it have been if it were actually _Corvid_-19? We could call it “the Crow Plague” or “the Raven Death”\* or something cool like that! The fantasy geek in me was very disappointed. - Double Poe! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745/5 "2020-04-14T13:53:14Z")
Note that Corvids are a host animal for West Nile Virus. During an outbreak a lot of dead crows around is an early warning sign. So a lot of people out there have a bit of brain wiring tying “Corvid” to “virus” already. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745/6 "2020-04-14T14:31:23Z")
Carrion crows have been associated with death since forever. The leap from that to viruses is not that big. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745/7 "2020-04-14T17:56:03Z")
I didn’t mistake it for the Polish curse word kurwa (pronounced like koorva) but I did note the minor similarity to COVID when we started to first hear that term. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745/8 "2020-04-14T18:47:37Z")
I thought this thread was going to be a complaint about the number of people who are calling it CORVID-19 rather than COVID-19. I am seeing that incorrect usage all over social media, and it is really starting to bug me. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745/9 "2020-04-14T18:54:55Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > I thought this thread was going to be a complaint about the number of people who are calling it CORVID-19 rather than COVID-19. I am seeing that incorrect usage all over social media, and it is really starting to bug me. I love it. I picture ravens swooping down all over our cities, raining pestilence and death. And that amuses me, briefly. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745/10 "2020-04-14T19:00:28Z")
There’s a journalist on NPR named Korva Coleman. I always think ‘Corvid’. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745/11 "2020-04-14T20:44:12Z")
Bird flu was what…twelve years ago? We saw dead birds all over the place. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745/12 "2020-04-14T22:16:36Z")
Nevermore. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745/13 "2020-04-14T22:52:08Z")
OK, why is a raven like a writing desk? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745/14 "2020-04-15T00:03:47Z")
Another who kept misreading COVID as corvid for…a good while. Finally got my brain to recognize the former, though. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745/15 "2020-04-15T00:22:12Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > OK, why is a raven like a writing desk? Poe wrote on both. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745/16 "2020-04-15T06:49:37Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > OK, why is a raven like a writing desk? The notes for which they are noted are not noted for being musical notes. They should both be made to shut up. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745/17 "2020-04-15T07:28:01Z")
I once won a trivia contest because I knew what family _corvidae_ was. They’re birds, not viruses. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745/18 "2020-04-15T17:59:49Z")
Corvid? No. But there have been several occasions when I wrote Convid. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corvid/851745/19 "2020-04-15T19:59:48Z")
Yeah, 19 crows are not gathering to harm you. But if they were, it’d be a murder.