crow vocalization

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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Marvin and Mavis stopped by for a chat over the garden fence yesterday.

I reliably see them each morning when they stop by for a breakfast snack of peanuts and kibble. They’re usually in an “eat and run” mood at that time day, being hungry and having a full crow-tinterary ahead of them.

Occasionally they stop by for a more leisurely afternoon visit. Yesterday they were in a particularly sociable mood. I almost thought that one day I might get Marvin, the bolder of the pair, to eat from my hand. Not there yet, but Marvin was at least ready to give the matter some serious consideration.

Marvin seemed particularly curious about me yesterday, and prepared to get quite close.

Mavis prefers to keep an eye on proceedings from a bit further away.

Marvin steps a little closer …

Marvin finally got to about a foot away from me and then retreated back in order to do some thinking out loud. You can see his thought process in action in the following video.

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I was so pleased to be part of such a close up performance of the lovely crow “rattle” call. I’m not sure if anyone knows for sure what this type of call means, but it really did seem as if it was part of his consideration on the subject of how much I could be trusted. It was combined with some branch pecking. This, I’ve noticed, is done when they’re feeling a bit frustrated or not sure what to do next.

You can see in this close-up how the tongue seems to move about quite a bit when they make the rattle call.

Quite a bit of rattle calling went on in my garden yesterday. I’d never seen such a long session of it up close.

Mavis keeps looking on silently from her branch.

Eventually they both came down from fence and tree and had a little hop around the back yard.

And so we passed a happy hour or two. If you read my earlier blog post, Home Décor for Nature Lovers, in which I reveal a rather laissez-faire attitude to housework, this post might help explain why that is.

After all, who can find time for dusting when there are such brilliant conversationalists hanging out right in the back yard?