crow behaviour

Fearless Fred Newsflash

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 2 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.

Coopers Hawk resting on a lamp stand, looking back over his/her shoulder

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.

Crow fledgling preening the head feathers of an adult crow as they both rest on a terra cotta tiled roof

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.

 

 

 

© 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.

Small Crow Stories — Little Lou

/ 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.

A crow fledgling practices flying with wings outstretched as they take off from a tree

Lou takes flight, July 2025

 

© 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.

 

Ravens and Crows in the City

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 6 Comments

If only I could bring some real crows and ravens along to one of my Raven/Crow presentations; they speak more eloquently for themselves than I could ever do.

This morning they magically appeared to demonstrate many of the things I cover in my talks, in the calendar and here, on my blog.

The crows and I heard the raven at about the same time …

Following the crows, I headed west until I found the source.

For a while, there were only a few crows, mostly keeping a polite distance from the raven while she groomed her feathers in peace.

Gradually, more crows arrived and began to get a little more rowdy.

One crow in particular got up the courage to launch a sneak attack. I love how you can see them pecking the branch aggressively as they advance, building up their nerve for the mission.

The raven, however, was having none of that guff.

The crows got a little more rowdy.

A little dive-bombing ensued.

Crow dives at Raven photo

Still, the raven continued preening and looked quite relaxed.

I feel I should give a shoutout to my companion, Geordie, who had already been waiting patiently beside for me about half an hour at this point.

He accepts that crows are going to mean a slight delay and is always resigned to the fact that ravens are really going to throw a spanner in the walk works.

Philosophically, he lay down to pass the time in comfort.

Good boy!

Things looked to be taking a turn for our raven visitor when I heard a BIG gang of crows coming in from further away.

The raven made one call.

And there, seemingly from nowhere, her* mate arrived.

Note how the crows quickly gave up on the attack.

Two ravens; now that was something to reconsider.

The crows became much quieter and the ravens were clearly happy to be together again.

A few crows swooped half-heartedly by, but our raven couple were oblivious—immersed in affectionate allo-preening and beak play.

The original raven moved away from their mate, ever so politely, to take a poop.

This was their prelude to leaving, flying casually off somewhere to the north.

The crow crowd cawed in corvid victory.

They  had ousted the enemy!

Although it seemed more like the barking dog and postie situation, where the house dog feels that their heroic efforts are 100% responsible for the delivery person’s daily retreat.

In less than an hour the obliging crows and ravens illustrated so many points from my talks:

  • the relative size of crows and ravens
  • the different calls of crows and ravens
  • the group action plan of crows
  • the pair bond between birds
  • how ravens communicate with their mates over long distances
  • the affectionate behaviour between raven couples (crows couples also allo-preen, but don’t engage in beak play)

I may have to update a couple of the slides in my presentation with some of these new videos!

*  I guessed that the first raven was the female in this couple because of her preening and beak play behaviour. She’s also a lot smaller, which can be a clue  — but not always.

 

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© junehunterimages, 2024. 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.