Risqué Ravens

March 13, 2024March 12, 2024 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 5 Comments

Well, you just never know what you might see up on the mountain!

You may remember that I wrote last month about seeing a raven pair devoted to pre-nesting behaviour, with lots of beak play and mutual preening of feathers. I think we saw a different pair on this most recent trip (the male had an oval- shaped eye on one side) — but they were engaged in the same activities.

This female raven was also doing her best fledgling-begging-to-be-fed impression in order to solidly fix in her mate’s brain his future role as sole breadwinner (and bringer) when she’s stuck in the nest on egg-incubation duty.

They did the little “feed me” dance when several times.

The female, it seemed, was sufficiently impressed and convinced of her partner’s proficiency in this matter, because …

*** WARNING: R-Rated Raven Content Ahead ***

After one feeding ritual she bowed down, wiggled her tail and — well — Nature took it’s course!

I really couldn’t believe my luck to have witness this moment! In fifteen years of watching crows in my own neighbourhood, I’ve never seen them actually mating and never expected to see this briefest of brief interactions between a raven couple.

Having seen the female raven’s rumpled feathers right after “the act,” I now find myself looking rather knowingly at my local crows whenever I see one of them in a similarly unkempt state.

Female raven “en deshabille”

The male raven continued to preen and groom his mate because, of course, that ten second act was just the beginning of a long process that will test the trust and partnership between them for many weeks to come.

The loving raven couple with a sweeping view of Vancouver behind them

Our female raven is probably sitting on some newly-laid eggs right now and her well-trained mate is keeping her fed. Two to three weeks of incubating the eggs, and then both raven parents will share the work of keeping the hatchlings fed, guarded and clean, and Mom will be able to get out and about and feel the rush of wind under her wings again.

I’ve no idea where their nest is. As you can see in the video below, it could be almost anywhere!

Raven Conversation

March 11, 2024March 10, 2024 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 7 Comments

There’s been so little snow on the mountains this winter, and so few opportunities to get up there to enjoy the quiet and see the ravens that each trip is precious.

Our most recent trip was a special treasure.

First of all, there was lots of fresh squeaky snow, and the trail conditions were lovely.

And, more importantly… I had my first conversation with a raven.

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you’ll know I’m kind of obsessed with crow and raven language. My fixation manifests in various ways: from my creation of a symbolic “Crowphabet,” to dreams of a typewriter that can communicate in “crow” and, last but not least, my ongoing efforts to learn raven calls.

I hesitated to post this video of my little raven “chat” as it reveals how terrible my attempts at making raven calls really are, but I thought you might enjoy it, for all it’s silliness.

My husband, who just viewed the video for the first time, thinks it should come with a warning.

Accordingly: Danger: May Cause Excessive Laughter. Avoid being mid-sip of hot beverages or red wine while watching.

And you can keep your clever remarks to yourself, Mr Steller’s Jay

I was doing my limited best to keep up our call and response — until my raven companion left me in the linguistic dust by throwing out on of those amazing and (for me) inimitable “pinball arcade” calls.

I found my new friend sitting at the viewpoint, alone and seemingly at loose ends. They were already muttering quietly when I arrived, and seemed open to my attempts at initiating a clumsy dialogue — perhaps less judgemental than a mature raven might be. Or, maybe just bored and curious about the odd new creature in the ‘hood.

My friend had a pink beak interior and you can even see some pink shining through his throat in the sunshine — a sign of a juvenile or low status raven

Also, not very good at nailing the treetop landings yet

Shortly after our little discussion, two more ravens arrived.

They were clearly a mated pair and higher in social status; they immediately made sure Junior knew who was in charge.

There was some on-the-ground interaction, consisting of the couple shooing the young one away and some aerial manoeuvres …

While the raven pair was bossy, they were tolerant enough to make me think that the young one might have been one of the pair’s offspring from a previous year.

So — it had been a pretty great raven day already — and yet the most amazing things were yet to come!

Stay tuned for the next post: Risque Ravens!!

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Meet Brunhilde

February 29, 2024February 28, 2024 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 6 Comments

Musical aptitude: is it inherited or taught?

Brunhilde has both advantages; being the offspring of a well-known local chanteur, and benefiting from his esteemed tutelage since birth.

She is the daughter* of Bongo and Bella and — of their three 2023 fledglings— she always has been the most chatty.

Brunhilde has been absorbing both musical and general crow survival skills from both parents since hatching from an egg here in East Vancouver sometime in late spring of 2023.

She has not let humble beginnings, or her incredibly noisy environment, stand in her way.

Not content to merely imitate the work of her illustrious father, our promising young vocalist is already working on a style that is uniquely her own …

Brunhilde seemed the obvious name for her, given her lyric tendencies and generally operatic style. While we may never see her perform in a horned helmet, I kind of hope that naming her after a powerful Valkyrie warrior princess might keep her safe as she navigates the journey to full adulthood in the rough and risky crow world.

She may one day grow into her fierce name, but for now, she’s pretty timid and submissive.

Bowing deeply and singing for parental permission to eat this nut.

More, “oops, sorry don’t mind me trying to get in on the food” posturing.

Although she’s only been exploring the world for about nine months, Brunhilde is already quite a character. I must admit to being quite in love with her.

Look for more Brunhilde photos and videos coming soon.

Meanwhile, see how splendid she looks in the rain …

For the true musical aficianado, here is the “uncut” version of Brunhilde’s first demo tape.

* I am identifying Brunhilde as a female, although I have no biological proof. Two factors: that it is most often females who stay with the parents after the first season and that she is smaller than the other crows, have influenced me in this.

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