Good story, Crosbyman. Smart birds, crows. (My crow dining has been pretty regular, but always metaphorical.)
On choke flappers, or cold starting generally -- Understood you to be saying your are having starting difficulties, WhiteRice, and use of the manual choke not always effective. If your motor has them, physically checking the choke flappers is easy, and can sometimes resolve problems. In your starting procedure, you may find that full choke will get it to fire up, then half choke until it warms up.
You might readjust the needle valves to change the air/fuel mix. I'm not sure what the initial setting is on that motor, but might be as much as 5 turns open.
Happy New Year to you! Good boating!