I heard the softest begging sounds of baby crows coming from White Wing’s nest this week — the first of the year! The Wings are always quick out of the nesting gate, and they seem to be in the lead again this spring.
White Wing disappeared as usual in April to go and sit on the nest and has been popping out more frequently over the last couple of weeks since the eggs hatched.
She usually performs a vigorous stretching routine when she emerges, as I imagine it’s getting ever more cramped in there as the nestlings grow.
Ooof — that’s better!The first time I caught the hint of crow baby gurgles, White Wing was watching me and surprised me with one of her rare “woof” calls …
… followed by another stretch.
The only other time I’ve heard her make the “woof” (with a soulful cat finale on that occasion) was a couple of years ago at about this time of year.
I wonder if it’s a special call to the hatchings — or perhaps she’s making a novel sound to divert the easily distractible human (squirrel!!!) from the tell-tale little quorking sounds emanating from the nest.
Or perhaps she’s just been whiling away the long hours sitting on the eggs working on some new “songs.”
The Wings are occasionally seen out of the nest together now — only for a brief few moments and then back to feed the hungry beaks …
You can see and hear White Wing’s woof-meow call on my YouTube channel HERE >>
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You have a wonderful way of relating to our universal experience of crow and human. Love it always!
Thanks so much, Bev.
So funny, like a little kid saying woof!
I had never heard the “woof” sound until about a week ago, when I heard it from my house, looked out the window, and saw a crow on the roof of the building next to mine — she “woofed” several times! Fascinating!
We have one here, years now, that barks like a dog. A really harsh arf arf sound.
I wonder if they’re mimicking a particular dog in the neighbourhood … v
Hi June, just a quick line to say that I am really enjoying your blog! I actually came here on a mission to find out what kind of call I am hearing from a couple of large black local birds, but became so fascinated with your beautiful photography and charming stories and commentary that I have been scrolling your site for an hour! This call I’m hearing is, I guess, initially several caws (sort of a honking caw — thought at first it was a duck, until I zeroed in on them with my binoculars), followed immediately by what sounds like a laugh (hahahaha). Have you ever heard anything similar from your bird friends? I’m in Georgia, USA, so maybe our birds are speaking with a southern accent!
Thanks, Natalie. Regarding the mystery bird calls — you probably have a lot of birds in Georgia that we don’t get here in Vancouver, but the honking caw sounds a lot like the sound that baby crows make, asking parents for food. The laugh part is a mystery though …
So amazing article, very interesting.
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