crow family life

Success At Last!

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 4 Comments

Having watched Norm and Nancy work so hard at the nesting game, spring after spring, with not a single fledgling to show for it, I’ve been thrilled to see them now parenting two little ones.

Now, admittedly, they may be wondering what the heck they signed up for—a common phenomenon among first-time parents.

Mum, mum, mum …!

I have been on the look out for fledglings in Norman and Nancy’s territory for weeks. Finally, in early June, I caught sight of one!

Given that Norman and Nancy live right beside our house AND that I had been fledgling-seeking for so long , it’s pretty remarkable how under-wraps they managed to keep this one.

And, as it turns out, there were two of them! Both baby crows had grey eyes by the time I spotted them, rather than the blue of a brand new fledgling. This means that Norman and Nancy managed to keep them very well hidden and safe for at least a couple of weeks before they made any kind of public debut.

Norman with the two babies

I had been looking forward to writing this happy post, but yesterday things took a turn.
I got a message from our neighbours to say that a crow had flown into their window and was unconscious. By the time I rushed over, the neighbour had approached the baby with a view to rescue, but the fledgling woke up and flew off.

I spent the rest of yesterday and all of today trying to see if little window-crasher had survived or not. It’s been difficult, as it’s so hot the crows are keeping the babies quiet and hidden up in the cooler tree canopies.

Early this morning my heart sank when I saw Norman, Nancy and a single fledgling up on the Hydro pole at the end of the lane. (Note that, at 7am, it’s already warm enough for the crows to have their beaks open to cool down.)

I kept wandering back to the same area for half an hour or so because I was almost sure I heard another fledgling in a nearby tree. I’ve been back a few times now and can say, with relative confidence, that there are still two fledglings. I haven’t managed to get a photo of them both together, but I have seen two at once and both seem relatively (given the heat) chipper.

Hopefully Crasher has learned a valuable lesson that he or she will carry into the future.

Stay safe, little ones!

 

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Lou’s Pastimes

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 7 Comments

Young crow hanging upside down from a branch, holding one with one foot

Most of the adult crows are currently immersed in all things nest-related. Younger crows, like Lou, who have remained with their parents for a year or two, are often designated “nest helpers.”

Lou’s nest-helping forté seems to be hanging out on the eastern territorial border, keeping an eye out for Norman and Nancy (the neighbouring crows) and making sure they don’t get too close to said border.

Young crow standing with head and neck extended up in a very alert posture Sentry duty

Of course, Norman and Nancy are pretty busy with their own nesting efforts, so this leaves Lou with lots of time on his hands/feet. Luckily, he has many, many interests to keep himself occupied while Mom and Dad (Mavis and Marvin) are busy elsewhere.

First of all, there’s just hanging about …

Young crow hanging upside down from a branch, holding one with one foot Such grace, such poise …

Sliding on bin lids …

Young crow slipping and sliding on a plastic garbage can lid, wings out wheeeeee!

Thinking deep thoughts and gaining new perspectives …

Young crow bent over with head looking back between their legs Hmmmm …
I’ve looked at life from both sides now …
Young Lou the crow stands contemplatively in front of a storm drain cover Photography by June Hunter ©junehunterimages2026 Contemplating the dark mysteries of The Underworld
How hard could it be to get this hubcap off?

Lou is never idle. He’s constantly on the move, which is probably good for his personal security, although challenging for his paparazzi.

Lou’s biggest enthusiasm is for finding things. You name it, he’s found it.
I showed him discovering coins, pebbles, berries, moss and mice in my earlier post about Lou, but that was just the beginning of his street-combing career.

He’s since found a lens from a pair of sunglasses …

The black box from a tiny aircraft … ?

A fancy hair clip …

A nice chunky eraser …

A whole delicious apple …

Of course, I only watch Lou for a few minutes a day, so I can only imagine what else he’s unearthed when I’m not around!

Apart from finding, he’s also very proficient at hiding treasures …

He did take a few moments out of his very busy schedule the other day to land on a branch beside me and make a short but eloquent speech.

While his parents are busy, they’re obviously keeping an eye on Lou and sweep by to check on him from time to time. Earlier this week, there was something alarming on the horizon …

Lou didn’t even have time to call the alarm before Dad arrived on the scene.

Marvin on security detail

Nest Helper Notes:

I sometimes wonder how useful these yearly crow “helpers” actually are.
Helpfulness probably varies between individual young crows, but I know that, during the three years that Marvin and Mavis had their previous “assistant”, Lucky, with them, they had no new fledglings. It was only when Lucky left them last spring that they raised a new pair of fledglings, one of which is Lou.

I once overheard one of the volunteers at the Riefel Bird Sanctuary remark that they were pleased to see that the offspring of the sanctuary’s resident Sandhill Crane pair had moved on that spring, because the young one sticking around for a couple of years had impeded them in their breeding/nesting efforts. At the time, I wondered if that was also true of crow families, in certain cases

 

 

 

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Spring 2024 Crow Sagas – Part 7

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 2 Comments

MARVIN, MAVIS & LUCKY

The quickest way to tell if the crows in the garden or alley are Norman and Nancy or Marvin, Mavis and Lucky is to do a quick head count. Lucky is staying very close to mom and dad, even though he’s now almost two years old.

As we’ve seen in previous posts, they’ve got a solid family strategy of outnumbering and out-cawing the local competition (most Norman and Nancy) so they’re not messing with success.

I’m not sure where they are nest building — but I don’t think they’re as far along as Bongo and Bella as I still see all three of them every day, so Mavis isn’t yet sitting on eggs.

When we were at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary earlier this spring one of the volunteers was talking about the family of Sandhill Cranes out there. The resident couple still have their colt from two springs ago (he’s called Evan) and he mentioned that having a fledgling around can actually impede the established pair’s mating process as the young one wants to get in the the act (the cranes to a very wonderful wing-flapping mating dance.) The teenager wants to join in and doesn’t know when three’s a crowd. I’m not sure this applies to crows though, but Marvin and Mavis didn’t have a new fledgling last year …

So many things I can hardly wait to get caught up on when we get back from our trip!

That’s the final update for the local crows, although I could ramble on about Barry and Beryl, who live on the berry tree street …

… and Angelo and Angela …

… but, oh dear, only so much time before we have to head to the airport, so they’ll have to wait until later.

I’ll try to post a little from the UK if I manage to sight and British Corvids.

If not, look for more local crow updates in late May!

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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.