The nesting season started early this year, with spring about a month ahead of schedule in the Pacific Northwest. Many crow pairs already have fledglings out and about, learning all about the pleasures and pitfalls of life outside of the nest.
About half of the early nesters had something go awry with that first effort, forcing them to start over. Bill and Earl’s nests fell into this category, putting them at a bit of a disadvantage; if they do manage to raise fledglings this time, the weather will be even hotter, drier and more challenging.
BILL AND IRENE (WITH BACK-UP BETTY)
Bill and Irene got off to a flying start this year, being the first crow pair I saw with an active nest. They have the added advantage of Betty, their offspring from a couple of springs ago, who acts as back-up nest security.
Irene sat on the nest for at least two weeks, and all seemed to be going well until one day I went by and there was no sign of Bill, Irene or Betty, and the nest seemed abandoned.
Bill and Irene live several blocks from me, so I can only check in on them once or twice a day, so I didn’t see what caused the nest to fail. It was in a fairly small tree, so my guess would be a ground-based predator, perhaps a raccoon or a cat.
Mysteriously, Bill, Irene and Betty remained absent for so long that another crow pair arrived and started building a nest in their territory.
Furious Bill approaches the newcomers
News of this outrage must have reached Bill and family, because they returned from their mini-break with a vengeance.
Much chasing and shouting ensued.
Below: Irene states her opinion.
Currently, the two crow families seem to have reached an uneasy truce. Irene has vanished again, so I am assuming they have a new nest and she is sitting on the eggs again.
Betty, keeping an eye on things
Meanwhile, Bill and Betty take turns in patrolling the area and making sure their territorial lines are being respected.
This is Betty, distinguished by her one sticking-out feather on the left wing.
Betty is not only unrelenting at chasing off other crows, but, like Fearless Fred, occasionally tries to pull my dog’s tail. She is quite the small character.
Bill in full nest-guarding regalia with maximally fluffed head, chest and leg feathers. He somehow manages to look twice his normal size in this mode.
EARL AND ECHO
Meanwhile, half a block away, venerable local crows, Earl and Echo are nesting. These two have been successful parents year after year and have produced quite the dynasty, including Dennis and Sneezy.
I do worry about them though, as they are getting on in years and the bent leg that Earl has hobbled about on for the entire time I’ve known him (at least five or six years now) seems to be giving him more trouble. Sometimes he misses a landing at the first attempt, and I often see him standing on his one good leg.
Echo has her own challenges, being blind in her left eye.
Like Bill and Irene, Earl and Echo got off to an early nesting start, building a nest high up in a tree in their territory.
The height of the nest, and the increase in leaf cover since I took the photo above made it hard to see what was going on up there.
As of yesterday, I can report that they’ve abandoned that first nest, for whatever reason, and now Echo is sitting on a new one in a different tree.
Earl and Echo’s new nest.
Last week, Earl was having some problems with other crows on their turf, forcing Echo to come down from the nest to help him repel the invaders.
You can see in the video below that she was in full, grumpy “don’t make me come over there” mode, assessing the situation with her one functioning eye.
Earl and Echo’s neighbours to the west are Bill and Irene. The two families seem to have the sort of sensible arrangement arrived at by mature, diplomacy-minded crows who don’t want to fight if they don’t need to. Occasionally they will get close to each other’s territory, resulting in some pro-forma cawing, but no actual battling for ground. Bill and Earl are old enough to realize that unnecessary brawling is a waste of precious energy. They could be advisors to certain humans …
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Hi June, wow, your knowledge of the crow families is amazing! At times over the years I’ve watched crows interacting, and it has always been clear to me that they are super intelligent creatures. I could perhaps refer to them as beings. They certainly deserve our respect, as fellow creatures in this world. Thanks so much for sharing your stories about them.