Crow Art

Fabulous Feathers

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / Leave a comment

Feathers are miracles.

Let’s face it — everything about birds is pretty miraculous — but I find myself thinking a lot about their feathers in the fall — the post-moulting season for our local crows and ravens.

They go from this …

Fred in late August, well into the moulting process. Note that his head feathers were so sparse that you could see his ear cavity peeking out behind his eye.

Fred this morning, November 3

To this in a few short weeks …

Following those difficult weeks of loss and regrowth, they are returned to their former feathery glory, just in time for protection against the wintry weather.  Imagine being able to grow your own rain gear every season!

The loss of feathers, apart from being itchy and uncomfortable, seems to affect their self-esteem.  Fred stops his tail-pulling games with the dog while he’s moulting, but is back to boundless confidence as soon as his feathers have regained their fabulosity.

Fully Fabulous Fred

Each feather on a crow or raven is a miracle of fit-for-purpose engineering, from the strong, waterproof outer feathers designed to keep the bird warm and dry, to the fluffy layer of downy feathers hidden underneath to keep everything nice and cozy

Fred adjusting his winter woollies

This close-up of young Lou shows the tiny patch of white feathers on the back of his head which sets him apart from other young crows — but also some of the amazing facial feather formations shared by all crows — the nifty nasal bristles covering and protecting the upper beak, the whisker-like rictal bristles at the base of the beak, and the little fan-shaped arrangement of feathers that covers the ear cavity behind and below the eye — just to name a few.

And then there is the topic of the colour of those feathers.

At first glance, crows and ravens are black birds, emphatically writing their stories in inky brushstrokes against the sky.

But when the sun catches them, a more complicated chromatic sub-plot emerges.
Crow (and raven) feathers actually contain a world of colours.

I try to capture some of their intricate detail and colour variations in my photography.

Such detail is beyond my capability to replicate in my woollen needle-felted crows. Instead, I use this medium to try and capture the quirkiness and beauty of crow and raven character by other means — expression, hats, rainbows, flowers, etc

I do give a nod to their magnificent colour complexity in the wings. For these, I mix a special shade of multiple hues.

You’d be surprised how many colours it takes to get this final look.

Here are just some of the colours I start out with …

They are hand-carded together to blend the colours to the shade I’m looking for …

Finally ending up something like this …

I’m aiming for a woollen folk-art representation of reality’s intricate beauty.

I also find mixing the colours quite meditative and relaxing, thinking all the time about the magic I’m trying to capture.

Below is a new addition to my wool collection. This character, along with a few other Party Crows and Ravens, will be available on my website at 11 am Pacific time tomorrow (November 5, 2026.)

 

Those hidden feather colours could be seen as a metaphor for the rainbow of personality, humour, and intelligence tucked away in these ubiquitous black birds, if we just take a little time to look closely every day.

Looking through my archives, I see I have been feather-obsessed for years!
Here are a few older feather-related blog posts you might enjoy:

 

 

© junehunterimages, 2026. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to junehunterimages with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Crow Helpline

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 9 Comments

Sometimes I wonder if we’d be better off with crows in charge.

While photographing my local corvids, I often make small talk.

I ask them how they’re doing, if they’ve picked a nesting site yet, how the night at the roost went — general neighbourly chit chat.

Sometimes, I tell them what’s going on in the human world.

Partly for my own sanity, I’ve been working on a new series of crow portraits which, at least in my own imagination, offer snippets of practical advice for living through these “interesting” times.

The series is called THE CROW HELPLINE …

CROW COMMENTARY

This is Dolores, mate to Dennis and mother of Tufty, the 2024 fledgling suffering from avian pox, Dennis and Dolores have kept Tufty going through several cold and snowy weeks this winter. Dennis acquires food for Tufty and guards him or her, while Dolores acts as lookout, cawing out loud warnings of any impending danger.
To the casual observer, she may seem to be just a loud crow — but, as with all crow commentary, there is always a deeper meaning behind it.

RISKY BUSINESS

This is Norman, taking the tricky route along the picket fence.  Sometimes everything seems fraught with danger, but you just have to take one tricky step after another and conquer the challenge.

CROW OF DISCERNMENT

Dennis could be described as a skeptic. He likes to double check his facts in this complicated world, making him a role model of good judgement and sense.

WADE IN

Sometimes the situation seems overwhelming — so you just need to take a deep breath and wade right in to get to the other side. This is Earl, a particularly inspiring crow.

TENACIOUS

Earl is an elderly and very photogenic crow of my acquaintance. He and his beautiful mate, Echo, have produced several generations of local crow characters. Once Earl makes his mind up, he’s an immovable crow — the epitome of tenacity!

MINDFUL CROW

“Be mindful” is such good advice — so why do I find it so hard to follow?

Watching mindfulness practiced by my local crows may be my best route to inner peace!

WISTFUL

Sometimes it’s OK just to feel sad and a bit confused.

HANG IN THERE

Crows are experts at adapting to challenging circumstances with aplomb. We can only aim for a small fraction of their graceful flexibility in our own lives.

BE ALERT

It is always wise to be on the alert, as Earl knows all too well.

SPEAK OUT

When things are wrong, don’t be afraid to speak out. Bongo is never a bird to keep his opinions to himself.

PERSPICACIOUS CROW

Norman the crow likes to get a view of things from all angles before reaching important decisions.

OUT ON A LIMB

Sometimes, you may feel as if you’re out on a limb.

As precarious as things may feel, Norman recommends adapting to the situation with as much nonchalance as you can muster. Fake it till you make it!

STRONGER TOGETHER

Earl has one crooked leg and Echo is blind in one eye but, together, they are  local crow power couple; parents, grandparents and great grandparents to many other crow characters. They have each other’s backs at all times.

PHILOSOPHER CROW

I include Philosopher Crow with the theme of this series although it’s an older portrait. Mavis, with just that slightest tilt of the head, seems to suggest a world of crow philosophy. Mavis remains, after many years, my best-selling print.

You can find all of these new prints in my CROW CHARACTERS gallery.

Oh, and one last comment from Bongo.

 

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© junehunterimages, 2025. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to junehunterimages with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

Crows in the Boardroom

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 7 Comments

On Monday I jokingly posted the suggestion that crows would make excellently determined school zone speed limit enforcers.

I’ve often thought that an intense corvid stare might help bring home all kinds of messages.

Room for 28 crows more up here

The Wings enforcing their local stop sign

Today’s crow thought: why stop at traffic signs?

Put crows where the big decisions are made!

Instead of stuffy CEO portraits or generic landscapes, let’s see crows adorning the walls of the centres of power. We need giant judgemental crows gazing down at the humans sitting down to set policy in government and corporate settings.

A thoughtful corvid presiding over a meeting might help decision makers remember that any new plan should meet the objectives of that most important of all stakeholders — Nature.

At the very least, it would remind meeting attendees to not take themselves too seriously.

Crows — the ultimate influencers!

 

 

 

 

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© junehunterimages, 2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to junehunterimages with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.