Hyper-Local Crow News

November 26, 2023November 25, 2023 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 4 Comments

Marvin and Mavis have been our “backyard” crows since 2017.

Whenever I’d go out onto the back deck, I’d know that any crow waiting out there or on the neighbour’s roof would be one of them.

Marvin and Mavis (AKA Judgemental Crows) 2017

Don’t worry, they’re still fine!

Plus, Lucky, their 2022 fledgling, is still with them. I see them every day, and all three look tip top.

It’s hard to tell Marvin and Mavis apart at the moment, but Lucky is usually busy and curiou, checking out roof fittings, stray bits of plastic and twigs. Her parents are generally more focussed on “grown-up” crow pursuits like allo-preening, finding edible items and feuding with the new neighbours.

Those neighbours are the reason we don’t see Marvin and Mavis in the yard as often these days.

The Newbies

This pair arrived last winter, nested in the tree across the alley from our garden in the summer and naturally claimed our backyard as theirs. It IS very close to their nesting tree, and years of construction and tree loss in the neighbourhood forced M&M a bit further away.

Marvin and Mavis, in two previous nesting seasons, built nests in the same tree, but were raided by raccoons there so often that they gave up on it.

I’m not sure how “The New Crows” fared with the raccoons, but it seems they’re here to stay — so this week, I gave up mentally calling them “the new ones” and named them — Nancy and Norman.

Marvin and Mavis still visit the garden from time to time — caws for cawing, extreme feather-fluffing and occasional outraged dive-bombing between the families.

But mostly, it’s the cawing.

Team Marvin and Mavis have a clear edge on this front — for two reasons.

First: aptitude. These two have long been experts in the Wall Of Sound technique.

In fact, I wrote about their vocal prowess way back in 2018 in a post titled, you guessed it, Wall of Sound. The two of them have always had the ability to meld their voices into a what sounds like a full-on murder.

Secondly, with the addition of Lucky, they’re well on the way to being powerhouse vocal trio with the ability (at least in their own minds) to move mountains with the power of sound.

Here’s the whole family running through some warm-up exercises the other day …

Lucky’s still in training, and I recently had the chance to observe just how serious the tuition regimen is.

It was a classic two family face-off.

Marvin, Mavis and Lucky had the height advantage in the tree in front of the house. Watch the crow on the right carefully …

Lucky is in the middle, partly obscured by the branch, but you can see one of her parents giving her a good hard prod every time she even thinks about taking a break from her vocal efforts.

A proud family tradition needs to be upheld — and Norman and Nancy need to be reminded of who is in charge here — so no time for slacking!

Norman and Nancy, however, seem relatively unimpressed — seen here taking a few moments to compose a thoughtful (and loud) response.

I’m hoping that, over the quieter winter months, we might reach some sort of detente, allowing both families to stick around with slightly less racket.

I look forward to keeping up with my old crowquaintances AND getting to know Norma and Nancy better.

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.

Crow Mother’s Day

May 12, 2023May 12, 2023 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 1 Comment

I wonder if there is any advertising within the crow world on the subject of the perfect gift for Crow Mother’s Day …? I’m fairly sure that roses and chocolates wouldn’t make the list — though a spa visit and brunch certainly wouldn’t go amiss.

It’s going to be up to Dad to arrange the festivities, of course, as the kids are still in egg form, or very newly hatched. No age to be making significant gift-giving decisions, anyway.

So, to help out the crow dads, let’s think of what a crow mom might really appreciate this weekend.

Most of the female crows are either still sitting full-time on the nest to incubate the eggs, or are just beginning to re-emerge into the wider world — stretching and shaking out the weeks of close-quarters confinement.

White Wing, newly emerged from the nest

A yoga retreat would be a nice idea, but it’s going to be months before the mother crows, or the fathers for that matter, will really have more than a minute or two to call their own.

An exhausting summer lies ahead, if all goes well.

Mabel takes that small, almost unconscious step away from one of her demanding fledglings one summer a few years ago.

Meanwhile, the biggest task on the crow mother’s mind is keeping newly hatched babies alive so they can become demanding teenagers. This involves constant feeding, so she’s out and about with dad in search of food.

Another important task is keeping the nest clean. No potties or Pampers for these parents — instead the babies come with a built-in solution — the fecal sac.

I think you can guess how these work …

They’re a brilliant bit of Nature’s design, with the slight snag being that the little sacs are fragile and prone to breaking in transit. This is why, at this time of year, you might see some white-beaked crow parents.

A close look at White Wing’s beak show evidence of nest cleaning duties

Bongo’s mate, Bella, just emerged from the nest this week and looks, I think, the epitome of someone in need of Mother’s Day pampering.

Luckily papa Bongo is on the job!

Such a thoughtful gift …

Already this morning I saw him collecting some bits of wood chips — presumably to refurbish the nest lining and help with the clean up.

And, of course, Bongo’s greatest gift is his music …

If you’re thinking of what YOU could offer your local crow mothers, fathers — all wildlife, in fact — this weekend, I’d suggest a nice bowl of cool, clean water.
Here in the Pacific Northwest we’re expecting temperatures 15 degrees above normal and no rain, so a reliable water supply will definitely be the bird equivalent of a luxury spa!