Some Wing Things

July 4, 2023July 3, 2023 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 7 Comments

A few news snippets from the Wings.

1 — Feather Gone!

White Wing shed her distinctive white feather again on June 21 — the day I took the photo of her (above) against the blue sky. The next day she was sans feather, looking just like your run-of-the-roost crow.

But, as always, she’s quickly growing a new one.

June 25, just four days after losing the white feather

Yesterday — just under two weeks of growth

2 — Mr. Wing

I recently thought that White Wing might be carrying on with Mr. Walker when I saw what looked like the two of them getting very cosy together. Scandal in the local crow world!

A Wing-Walker dalliance did seem especially unlikely with both families in the midst of nesting season. Turns out it’s something almost as crazy — Mr. Wing has damaged his eye too — the same eye as Mr. Walker.

It’s pretty confusing as both the Mr. W’s have similarly shaped beaks and are next door neighbours to the Walkers. Currently Mr. Wing has some fluffed-up chest feathers (possibly from skirmishing with other crows) which makes ID a little easier.

3 — Parenting

I’ve been hearing Wing babies since late May, but didn’t see them for the first month . I’m not sure how many they started out with, but now I regularly see them with one lively youngster.

I’m fairly certain that this duo, seen in early June enjoying the aquatic facilities provided by a thoughtful neighbour, were little Wings. I didn’t see the parents with them, so couldn’t be positive.

It’s always hard to do a definitive fledgling roll call at this time of year. The first of the summer babies (like the Wings’ and Bongo and Bella’s) are at the “teenage” phase; relatively adept flyers, often off exploring the neighbourhood. They aren’t very cooperative about staying in one place for head counts!

That being said, I’ve only seen the Wings in the company of just one fledgling in recent weeks.

One damp, blue-eyed Wing fledgling, June 10

Same day, same fledgling — now on the move!

Fluffy Baby Wing, June 20

Baby Wing, July 1

Now that Junior is getting older, the parents try to encourage self feeding, but every once in a while doting dad Mr. Wing relents. Even a teenager needs some spoiling every once in a while.

So that’s the news from Wing World for now.

White Wing leaves you with the message, conveyed via crow semaphore.

The Quietness of Crows

July 4, 2022July 4, 2022 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 19 Comments

“Quiet” and “crow” are, let’s face it, rarely used in the same sentence.

We tend to think of crows as stridently outspoken and rowdy birds, bringing a racket wherever they go.

Crow nesting and fledging time can be especially raucous, with parent crows cawing wildly at fledglings, and at potential threats to fledglings; and the babies begging loudly and unreservedly for food.

Our attention is mostly drawn to them when they are being loud, but crow do spend a lot of time pursuing more secret, secluded and silent crow pastimes.

The large Katsura trees by our our house are never chosen as nest sites, but they do seem make for a perfect crow creche. Often, especially in the afternoon, Marvin and Mavis will come by with their babies and just chill for a couple of hours.

One of my very favourite things to do is peer up into those leafy rooms and see what exactly it is that they get up to during their “down time.”

Here are some of the things I’ve watched Marvin, Mavis, and this year’s fledgling get up to in there over the past few days.

Usually one crow parent takes the opportunity to go off for some “me time” while the other keeps a quiet eye on junior.

Parent on duty.

As the world roars along outside, Junior finds a number of things to pass the time in the peaceful green chamber.

There’s quite a bit of snoozing going on.

When nap time is over, it turns out there are a ton of other things to keep a baby crow amused in a Katsura. Playing with leaves is a lot fun, perhaps because the leaf stem looks just enough like a worm to be interesting …

Also bits of moss are quite entertaining. I imagine this is all part of the important “is this food?” learning that needs to be mastered in these early weeks.

The whole world is a classroom for a baby crow.

Then there’s a lot of s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g to do, preferably without falling out of the tree.

Risky shot of fledging undercarriage …

All those lovely new feathers need careful preening …

Baby M is a few weeks old now so their eyes have moved from that early blue colour to a soft grey now

Learning to be a “covert crow” just like dear old mom.

Mavis, model for Secret Crow image, 2017 … a definite family resemblance

And, of course, there’s trying to figure out what’s up with that strange creature down below with a camera.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this oh-so-quiet little look into the more hidden world of a crow fledgling.

Sneaking away now and maybe baby will go back to sleep and give mom or dad a little more time to regroup before things get rowdy again.

S-s-h-h-h ….

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George and Mabel – A Love Story

February 12, 2020August 22, 2023 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 35 Comments

They say that crows usually mate for life. George and Mabel have certainly stuck together through good, and some very bad, times — so, in honour of Valentine’s Day, here is their story.

I wrote about some of their trials and tribulations about a year ago in the blog post George’s Tough Year. This is the next instalment of their story.

In spite of babies lost to illness and a seemingly catastrophic injury, George has kept on keeping on and, with the help of his mate, Mabel, seems to be thriving.

We never did figure out what exactly caused George’s beak to break. Theories have included: crash landing; attack from other birds; and a run in with a rat trap. I don’t think George is going to tell me any time soon. In any case, I hardly think he notices his half-beak any more.

He’s developed his own method of scooping up food, turning his head upside down for a more efficient “shovelling” action.

George the Crow eating peanuts

You would think that other crows would take advantage of George’s disability, but he and Mabel, as a team, are a force to be reckoned with. While George comes down to pick up their breakfast, Mabel stands guard on a higher roof and warns of incoming interlopers.

Mabel on Guard

George’s great advantage over other crows is that he’s not afraid of me at all. If I’m present, the other crows are too afraid to come and eat, while George regards me as his personal catering manager. If I forget one of his “snacks” he will perch right by my studio and stare meaningfully at me through the window until I get the message.

George on the Bird Feeder

In 2015 they had a baby but s/he was terribly afflicted by avian pox and died as soon as the cold weather came. Last summer I watched carefully to see what would happen. They had two babies. One didn’t make it, but the second is hanging in there. Boy/Girl George, as I like to call him/her has a small foot deformity, but has survived a bitterly cold winter, so fingers crossed.

Boy/Girl George

George and Mabel are working incessantly to make sure their offspring thrives. After George has collected the food I put out (and he can cram an amazing amount into his gullet and beak) he flies off to share the bounty with Mabel and the baby. I think George is trying to show Junior the food collecting ropes, but s/he remains skittish about coming too close for now.

Mom and Baby

Crow family in silhouette

So this Valentine’s Day, we can celebrate the many kinds of love. From the giddy excitement of first infatuation, to the less dramatic but lifelong kind that George and Mabel enjoy.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

2020 Update

Some of these pictures may look familiar. This may be because you read my blog post when it came out in 2017, or it could be because some of these photographs were taken without permission and used in a fabricated crow love story that went wildly viral across the internet. The story here is the true story of George and Mabel, and these (as with all of the images in my blog posts) are my photographs.

Sadly, George passed away the summer after I wrote this story. He is buried in my garden. See: In Memory of George

George and Mabel’s offspring did survive and Mabel is still thriving. She eventually found a new mate and in the spring of 2019 they had three babies, two of which survived and are still hanging around with mom and dad. See More on Mabel