crow family

Young Syd and Family

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 1 Comment

Young Syd represents the newest generation in the Earl and Echo dynasty. She’s one of several crows born in this area last spring who’ve stayed over winter, hanging out with their extended family and learning from their elders.

Earl and Echo are venerable crows, progenitors to many local crow characters. Their offspring include Dennis (born in 2022) and his mate, Dolly, who live just to the west of them, and Sneezy (born in 2023) and his mate, Sue, who moved into a vacancy just east of Earl and Echo last spring.

Sneezy and Sue successfully raised a couple of fledglings, one of them being Syd.

Earl and Echo

Sneezy, Sue and Syd — Summer 2025

Last summer, there were a lot of fledglings in the neighbourhood, especially between Earl and Echo and their kids. It was a bit hard to tell exactly which babies belonged to which parents, as Dennis and Sneezy’s fledglings would wander into Earl and Echo’s block, where they seemed quite welcome.

Crows are usually pretty fierce about guarding their territory against all other crows, but it seems that special dispensation is given for close relatives — or perhaps Earl and Echo are just particularly doting grandparents.

Young Syd (back) hanging out with Earl and Echo during late summer moulting season

By winter, most of the new generation of Earl and Echo descendants had moved on — except for Syd.

You may remember the young crow I videoed catching snowdrops earlier this year. That was our Syd.

Like most youngsters, Syd is an energetic and curious young bird. She’s not nearly as driven as Lou with his relentless compulsion to pick up and examine just about every object that crosses his path, but she has her own foibles.

One of these is the fondness for looking behind her from a low angle. You’ll notice she’s in the same pose in the early photo of her with her parents.

Young crow in close up, head bent low and facing. backwards looking at the world from under their tail.

Upside Down (available as a print)

Syd doesn’t have any noticeably distinguishing features, except for a beak that seems to me to be slightly slimmer and narrower than average with an especially pronounced “V” in her nasal bristles.

(Note: I don’t know if Syd is male or female yet, but I’m opting to call her “her” for now.)

You can see a definite family resemblance, in attitude at least, between Syd and her grandpa.

Tenacious Earl (available as a print)

Young Syd (available as a print)

You can see that Syd’s extended family is raising her to be just as wise and tenacious as her forebears.

 

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© 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.

Spring 2024 Crow Saga – Part 6

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 4 Comments

NORMAN AND NANCY’S TRYING TIMES

Poor Norman and Nancy are having a bit of a frustrating nesting season so far, working on their third nest so far.

Norman, hard at work at the beginning of April

The first nest, in one of the coveted red-leaved plum trees, disappeared without a trace overnight, so I suspect that humans, less excited than I would be to have a crow’s nest in front of the house, dismantled it.

Undaunted, they build again, this time in a large holly bush. It was very well hidden there — I only noticed what they were up to because Geordie was staring at the tree intently, convinced it harboured a raccoon.

That seemed like an excellent location, but they seem to have abandoned it — perhaps there really was a raccoon in there! They’re now working on nest no. 3 in another red-leaved plum tree across the street from us.

The new nest, containing bits of the weeping birch next door.

Norman, selecting furniture

Unfortunately, this new spot seems very exposed and I have a feeling that they still haven’t found that perfect location yet. We’re leaving for our trip tomorrow, so I’ll just have to see where they finally settle.

Norman and Nancy remain in contention with Marvin, Mavis and Lucky regarding “ownership” of our back yard. As the opposing team have the numerical advantage, so Norman and Nancy often have to concede, but keep coming back.

Tomorrow’s last instalment of the Spring 2024 Crow Chronicles will be a Marvin, Mavis and Lucky update.

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Meet Brunhilde

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 6 Comments

Musical aptitude: is it inherited or taught?

Brunhilde has both advantages; being the offspring of a well-known local chanteur, and benefiting from his esteemed tutelage since birth.

She is the daughter* of Bongo and Bella and — of their three 2023 fledglings— she always has been the most chatty.

Brunhilde has been absorbing both musical and general crow survival skills from both parents since hatching from an egg here in East Vancouver sometime in late spring of 2023.

She has not let humble beginnings, or her incredibly noisy environment, stand in her way.

Not content to merely imitate the work of her illustrious father,  our promising young vocalist is already working on a style that is uniquely her own …

Brunhilde seemed the obvious name for her, given her lyric tendencies and generally operatic style. While we may never see her perform in a horned helmet, I  kind of hope that naming her after a powerful Valkyrie warrior princess might keep her safe as she navigates the journey to full adulthood in the rough and risky crow world.

She may one day grow into her fierce name, but for now, she’s pretty timid and submissive.

Bowing deeply and  singing for parental permission to eat this nut.

More, “oops, sorry don’t mind me trying to get in on the food” posturing.

Although she’s only been exploring the world for about nine months, Brunhilde is already quite a character. I must admit to being quite in love with her.

Look for more Brunhilde photos and videos coming soon.

Meanwhile, see how splendid she looks in the rain …

For the true musical aficianado, here is the “uncut” version of Brunhilde’s first demo tape.

 

* I am identifying Brunhilde as a female, although I have no biological proof. Two factors: that it is most often females who stay with the parents after the first season and that she is smaller than the other crows, have influenced me in this.

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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