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!

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All Quiet On The Nesting Front (For Now)

April 28, 2022 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 3 Comments

The crow nesting season goes through various phases, some quiet, others much louder.

Right now we’re in a seemingly tranquil phase

All is secretive and low key as the parents try to keep the nest locations hidden from predators. Sometimes the game is given away when the female, sitting on the eggs, makes begging sounds to remind their mate to hurry up with the food delivery, but generally it’s as if the whole neighbourhood is made up entirely of of very quiet bachelor crows.

Marvin going solo while Mavis sits on the eggs, spring 2022

The mother crow will remain on the nest, incubating 2-6 eggs, for between two and three weeks. Once the eggs hatch, both parents will leave and return to the nest frequently to bring food. Another parental duty is carrying away the babies’ fecal sacs to keep the nest clean. A sure sign of hatched babies is seeing a poop-splattered adult crow — evidence of one of those sacs having failed in the disposal process. The love of a parent truly knows no bounds …

Mr. Walker on dad duty, Spring 2022

This is, of course, the calm before the storm. Soon things will start to get more exciting as dive bombing season begins.

This is such an issue in Vancouver that, a few years back, a Langara College professor created an open-source Geographic Information System called Crowtrax, allowing people to report where they were attacked by crows and thus contribute to a map of the most “crow-terrrorized” parts of the city.

I’m happy to report that there’s been a positive change in the way this part of the crow nesting season in covered by the local media over the past few years. It used to be all Hitchockian horror, with eyeball grabbing headlines about “savage” crows swooping from the sky and randomly mauling innocent pedestrians. In recent times there has been more curiosity about what’s really happening here, and much more thoughtful pieces have been written.

Last year, Georgia Strait reporter, Martin Dunphy, wrote such an article and one of my images was on the front cover.

The article included comments from Vancouver crow scientist, Rob Butler, and myself and was a refreshingly pro-crow look what can be a slightly hysterical time of year.

I have some tips on avoiding getting dive-bombed this year, but first of all it’s helpful understand what’s going on from the crows’ perspective.

The crow parents have been working on this nest since late February, carefully building it, sitting on eggs in secret, carrying bags of baby poop hither and yon, fighting off hawks, raccoons, cats and eagles. They are tired, stressed to the max, and very, very committed to the success of their little families. Now the precious babies are about the leave the relative security of the nest.

These “babies” are almost the same size as the parents at this point, so some people don’t even notice that they’re not adult crows. Sometimes they’re difficult to spot at all as they rest on the ground, camouflaged with dust and leaf litter. They’re often earthbound because, in what seems to be a bit of a design flaw, they come out of the nest before they can fly.

The young crows are curious and eager to explore, but have no idea what might be fun as opposed to fatal. The only things standing between the helpless fledglings and getting stepped on, run over or attacked by animals or birds of prey are good old mom and dad. These exhausted and very tense parents and are the “savage” dive bombers — and it’s really nothing personal, they just want you to STAY AWAY from their precious offspring until they can fly.

In my experience, sometimes the raucous cawing isn’t even directed at us humans. Often they seem to be screaming instructions at their fledging and/or making a lot of racket just to drown out the baby crow noises that might attract real predators.

So try to remember, you’re not in a Hitchcock movie — just a small domestic drama.

TIPS FOR KEEPING YOURSELF AND THE CROWS SAFE

Avoiding the nest area if possible.
If you can’t stay clear, wear a hat or use an umbrella when you walk by.
Try pinning fake eyes (paper drawings, or make some with felt) on the back of your hat or hood. Crows only attack from the rear and if they see a pair of eyes “looking” at them they won’t swoop — according to Seattle crow scientist John Marzluff.
Earn some trust with a small offering of unsalted peanuts. Not a big pile — just 3 or 4 peanuts as a gesture of friendliness.
This might just be me, but I always speak softly to the parents and tell them what a great job they’re doing.
If you see a crow fledgling alone on the ground, don’t assume it needs rescuing. There will be a parent crow nearby watching over things and, unless the baby is obviously injured, it’s always best to leave it alone.

This following little diagram is something I put together years ago as an easy guide to telling fledgling crows apart from adults …

Once the baby crows are able to fly the parents will become a lot more relaxed and spend a lot of time feeding, grooming and showing the young ones the ropes of being a successful city crow.

Spending time watching this process will reward you with many laughs as you see yourself reflected in the behaviour of the parents, kids, or both.

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