Neil Young, The Crow

August 21, 2026August 20, 2026 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 4 Comments

Neil and his companion, Nellie, are new to the neighbourhood, and their story is one of a young couple in a highly competitive real estate market.

This may be a familiar tale to many.

I first noticed them this spring, when they seemed all set to start a new family in an area that was once a very desirable crow property, close to Fearless Fred and Florence’s block.

So, how did Neil and Nellie come to command such a sought-after piece of territory?

This is a two-part puzzle.

PART ONE — THE REAL ESTATE SITUATION

Good crow breeding areas in Vancouver are highly sought after — by crows, mostly.

The history of Neil and Nellie’s territory is a tale as old as real estate — a once-sought-after area fallen on hard times.

It’s a venerable crow neighbourhood, once favoured by now-departed local celebrities such as the Wings and and the Walkers, with lots of big leafy trees and friendly human neighbours who leave bowls of water out in the dry season. Property values, however, took a tumble when the local hawks decided to nest in the adjoining block.

Cooper’s Hawks have always lived and nested in this general area, but this year they built their nest very close by. As you can imagine, hawks are on the crows’ perpetual “undesirable neighbours” list because they consider crow eggs and fledglings to be on the grocery list for their own babies.

I often imagine a “crow’s-eye-view” overlay on urban maps. Such a map would survey the landscape from a purely corvid perspective, highlighting features that we, as humans, might not notice, but which would be “make or break” factors for crow house-hunters.

Imaginary Crow real estate listing:

Luxurious Crow Dwelling Opportunity with Beak-Dropping Amenities
Don’t miss out on this tranquil, crow-friendly East Vancouver territory, featuring storybook tree cover for tranquil nest building and secure fledgling concealment, plus meticulously human-tended lawns for grub and worm opportunities. Only a short waddle to the restaurant dumpster with the ill-fitting lid of your dreams for year-round family dining.
Low maintenance and move-in-ready!

PART TWO — YOUNG COUPLES STARTING OUT

Much like their human counterparts, young crow couples often have to start their real estate journey in less-than-ideal circumstances.

And, Neil and Nellie appear to be very young crows. They’re smaller than average, with the duller, brownish feathers of immature birds. I would guess that Neil is about two years old and Nellie about the same.

The pair built a nest in April, and Nellie exhibited all the signs of a female crow about to go and sit on eggs — begging for food from the male to remind him he’d be responsible for regular food deliveries while she’d be on incubation duty and confined to the nest.

Except that Neil seemed to have absolutely no interest in sharing his food finds with Nellie …

Time and time again, I’d see Nellie trying to get Neil to put food in her beak, only to have to give up and go get it herself.

This continued well into the time she should have been sitting quietly on the nest, and I began to think that these two, while close companions, were not really serious about parenthood. They seemed to be just playing at the whole nesting business, a bit like kids playing “house.”

Whether their hesitation has more to do with their youth, or the hawk’s proximity, remains a small mystery.

Meanwhile, having Fred and Flo as neighbours has it’s pros and cons for Neil and Nellie.

While Fred’s fearlessness is handy for moving the hawks along, his young neighbours can also bear the brunt of his mettlesome personality. This may explain Neil’s perpetually worried look.

Neil Young Crow

Just to keep things confusing, sometimes Fred and Florence are friendlier, allowing Neil and Nellie to come close and hang out with the family, leading me to wonder if perhaps they are related. Could Neil or Nellie be one of Fred and Flo’s kids from a previous year? As always, more questions than answers …

I guess only time will tell if Neil and Nellie will stick around until next year. Maybe, by then, the hawks will have moved their nest to a new block, and our intrepid young couple will have lucked into some prime territory in which to have many babies and live long and happy crow lives. Fingers crossed!

In the meantime, Neil has already been the model for two of my new crow prints: Neil Young Crow and News Crow (above.)
It’s unclear whether Neil just likes to keep abreast of current affairs, or if he’s considering the newspaper box as a potential emergency shelter from fierce neighbours.

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Fearless Fred Newsflash

July 22, 2026July 21, 2026 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 5 Comments

Well, I’m afraid the crow news has entirely gotten away on me. Each time I go outside, there are new things to report on, but finding the time needed to get it all written down eludes me. I could use a crack team of crow correspondents to keep up with it all!

So, for no particular reason, let’s have a look at how Fearless Fred and his family are doing so far this summer.

There was a period, earlier in the nesting season, when I thought Fred’s fearlessness may have been his undoing. I saw him chasing one of the local hawks one day, and then didn’t see him at all for two weeks, leaving me imagining a sad pile of Fred feathers somewhere in the neighbourhood. Luckily, he was just busy with baby stuff and suddenly reappeared, once again fully committed to pulling Geordie’s tail AND looking after the babies. He’s still chasing hawks too — a bit of a Renaissance crow all round.

Fred sidles up to Geordie’s tail for a quick peck

It seems that Fred and his mate, Florence, have two fledglings this year.

The hawk was back again yesterday, and below is one of the babies keeping a low profile in a tree while mom and dad dealt with the problem visitor. With backup from crow neighbours, Neil and Nellie Young, they managed to persuade the raptor to move on to other hunting grounds.

Being a dad is a busy job all by itself, but Fred somehow finds time to be an excellent parent, while still pursuing his extra hobbies.

Clearly, Fred and Florence are raising the kids right, as one of the fledglings has already learned how to reciprocate affection by giving Mom a nice head scritch.

The weather is hot and dry, but Fred was spotted making a spa experience from a puddle after some heavy rain earlier this month.

And, of course, he keeps up on his dog tail grabbing hobby …

Apologies for the loud motor noise in the video — it’s rarely quiet here in the city!

This is a good representation of Fred’s technique. He makes a quick assessment of the situation, sidles up to the target sideways and dives in to make his move.

The other day, I noticed Fred following another dog walker and I asked her if Fred also pulled her dog’s tail. She said he did not, but he does regularly swoop over her shoulder, or give her a poke (which he also does to me, from time to time.) She mentioned this to another neighbour, who knew all about his antics and recommended giving him peanuts.

So, who knows how many people Fred has a “special” relationship with.

It always makes me laugh when I hear about human projects to “train” crows to do things for the humans’ benefit — like picking up cigarette butts or garbage.
I think it’s clear from Fred’s example exactly who, in the human-crow equation. is doing the training.

Fred is in the 2027 City Crow Calendar. I picked him as the April crow, since he’s probably the biggest joker of all the crows I’ve known.

Small Crow Stories — Little Lou

March 8, 2026March 8, 2026 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 30 Comments

It’s been a while since my last Crow News update.

Are you OK, Mom?

Every morning I get up, make coffee and sit with the cat while I check the latest world news on my phone.

Next, I get dressed and take the dog out for a walk. The walks have been getting longer this year, as it seems to take more time outside with the local crows to recalibrate my doomscrabbled brain.

I’ve been planning for a while to write regular blog posts, keeping up with the always-evolving crow stories — but my thoughts are endlessly engaged in the following tug-o-war:

“These tiny, detailed stories from nature are super-important, now more than ever!”

vs

“The stories of a dozen or so East Vancouver crows don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.”

This morning, the “tiny stories are super-important” side temporarily has the upper hand, so here is the story (so far) of Lucky Two — Lou for short.

Lou is one of my newest crow acquaintances — and the offspring of my two oldest crow acquaintances, Marvin and Mavis.

He was born last spring and seems set to stick around with his or her parents for a while, taking the place of Lucky One — Mavis and Marvin’s 2022 fledgling who stayed with them for three years. He moved on last spring, presumably to start a family of his own.

Note: I don’t know if Lou is male or female, but I’m referring to him as “he” for now.

Marvin with Lou and a sibling in early summer 2025

This little bird has stolen my heart.

So much so that when he vanished for about a month in January, I was ridiculously depressed at his absence, going out to search for him often.

I had pretty much resigned myself to him having gone for good when, on January 28, he was back, just as if nothing had happened. Obviously, something HAD happened, as evidenced by his newly ragged tail feathers, but we’ll just have to imagine his adventures.

He seems happy to be back to a quieter life with Mom and Dad. They seem pleased to have him back, too, with one or both of them keeping an eye on him at all times.

Lou, with slightly battered tail feathers

Lou has inspired my idea for the 2027 City Crow calendar.
The more time I spend around crows, the more convinced I am that they each have quite distinctive personalities — a concept that I’m excited to explore more in the calendar and on the blog. Lou is a perfect example.

Often, Lou is with other birds, including other “teenagers” — yet his behaviour and general way of being in the world set him apart. I am testing myself at picking him and other crows of my acquaintance out of a crowd solely by their behaviour.

In Lou’s case, I have a way to check if I’ve been right, once I get closer. He can be reliably identified by a tiny patch of white feathers on the side of his head — just visible from the right angle.

I often envy scientists who can accurately track birds by tagging them; these few tiny white feathers are my “tag” equivalent for checking out my crow personality theories.
It’s probably a limited-time opportunity, as he’ll likely lose this little mark after moulting season in the late summer/fall.

So, what do I know (and love) about Lou?

Well, first of all, he’s a photographer’s nightmare — constantly on the move in search of interesting things.

Nickels in the autumn leaves …

Pebbles in the grass …

Berries …

Moss (he could hire himself out as a gutter cleaner)

Mice …

Lou seems relentlessly optimistic, finding fun and entertainment around every corner.

Sometimes, he even thinks his parents might still feed him! When they fly close to him, his fledgling “feed-me” response is triggered. Marvin and Mavis either ignore this small regression or give him a light “in your dreams” peck.

His cheery, confident disposition sometimes leads him to think that the highly territorial neighbours (Norman and Nancy) will be fine with him coming over to say hi.

Norman and Nancy — they do NOT like visitors.

This is NEVER the case, and often Marvin and Mavis have to mount a rescue mission.

Marvin, acting as Lou’s bodyguard when close to Norman and Nancy’s imaginary territorial line

I can spot Lou among other crows because he’s the one in perpetual motion. He’s striding purposefully, searching for treasure, experimenting with new materials, and generally enjoying every single thing the world has to offer an adventurous young crow.

All juvenile crows are like this to a certain extent, but Lou, of all the “teenager” crows in the neighbourhood, is by far the most driven in his pursuit of getting to know everything about everything.

Lou in his favourite alley on bin collection day.

As you can see, I already have a lot of photos of Lou — yet for every picture of him in the frame and in focus, I have two of him that consist of a blurred fraction of tail or wing as he moves on to pastures new.

Endlessly entertaining; photographically nerve-wracking!

I look for Lou every time I leave the house, just so I can absorb a tiny portion of his optimism, curiosity and general joie de vivre.