Happy New Year – 2020 will be a Great Crow Year!
Tag: Crow Love
My Baby Dearest
Ahhh – a mother’s love for her baby. This crow family is no different than humans. They love their families and want only best for their kids.
Watch this mom clean up her whining baby. He wants a snack but mom wants to rid the little rascal of dirt and fluff his growing feathers.
This tale of crow family life began with my hearing the Momma, Momma Baby Crow Caw. Looking up I noticed them on the wire next to the Fauntleroy Preschool.
I found a good spot across the street. The edge of the sidewalk was lined with bamboo in a raised bed. I sat on the edge of that to get some stability for my photography and got this next shot zoomed in.
Then I got into some serious zoomed shots and a short video. My favorite of the series is the one with mom’s open beak grooming and baby crying for food. Just a mom and her baby interacting!
With that I leave you with the photos and the video – enjoy this baby crow moment in the middle of your busy human life.
Rooftop Crow Love
Not only is spring in the air but so is LOVE. Check out these two crows at the West Seattle Junction in plain sight of all showing a little love.
I do wonder if this is child to parent behavior but whatever way you cut it … it shows love and concern.
Take a final peek at them hanging out in their rooftop lair.
Crow Holiday Wish – Love to the World
Happy Holidays from Crows all over the World!!
We give you a smile and a big smooch this wonderful time of the year!! Spread the Love wherever you go.
Together We Crows
Crows are so misaligned with bad luck or magic. I say that is only true if they don’t like you. Which probably is a lot of people in their book due to that bad reputation thing.
How do you change the hearts of those who see only blackness when they should be seeing intelligence and loving families?
I say show a little love being shared by this pair on a light pole. See how they are sticking so close and like a human pair nussling up.
There they sit watching the world go by. Eyeing for any tasty treats or perhaps a member of their flock. Oh don’t think it is all flowers and roadkill for this pair.
They are also watching for neighboring crows trespassing on their territory and larger birds of prey. It is good fun to chase a hawk or eagle.
But this is a moment for them. See how one gives the other the look of love?
Then as I watched something caught their eye and the crow on the left lifted off and went to the West. His adoring mate then rose and said to himself…. you left but I will follow.
Be right there!!
Crow Love Exists
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No, not just for some but for everyone
These lovely lyrics were first sung by Jackie DeShannon in 1965. It was written by Hal David and music composed by Burt Bacharach.
Would you agree that we need a little love in the world then and today? How we need to put down our technology and hug each other? Crows could show us the way.
I have written about crow love several times over the years. In early spring their attachment to each other becomes obvious. Here is a little article I wrote about this subject last year – Crow Love article 2016 It contains information from Kevin J. McGowan of Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. He has a FAQ on Crows that you can find at this link – Crow FAQs.
To be really inspired by crow love go to the Urban Nature Enthusiast blog written by June Hunter. She has documented a crow named George and his wife Mabel. George is handicapped by a broken beak. Mabel has stuck by him in thick and thin. To see more on this crow couple go to George & Mabel’s crow love.
Rambling around being observant I see all kinds of things. One of my posts was a crow pair walking along together. I called it Walking my Baby.
Could it be Crow Love? These two crows above were not noodling but they were so close together that one has to see the love surrounding them.
I leave you with a post from Christmas. It was a good time to bid all Love and Peace. This was a short article using crow love to demonstrate that “What the world needs now is love.”
Trio of Crow Pairs
Seahurst Park in Burien, Washington has a resident Crow flock. My adventure today took me to this park on Puget Sound. They have made a grove of trees where South Creek meets the sound their roost and I find a few of them there every visit. Looking up into that tree I spotted three crow couples noodling and hanging out close together. Doubt if they know it is Valentines Day but they make a perfect post for the day of hearts.
This first photo gives you a picture of the trees. All three pairs can been seen plus another family member just hanging out with them.
Up towards the top on the right side of the trees is our crow pair number one. They are also the couple seen noodling in the feature image of this article.
Crow Pair number two are in the upper left corner with the helper or other family member hanging out close by.
A little harder to see is Pair number three. They are at the center of the bigger picture hanging lower in the trees. Not sure if their place in the grove denotes seniority or which pair has been together longest. I tend to think that is the case but don’t have the research to prove that.
Spring is approaching and it is time to find a mate or get lovey with your long-term love. Nature tells all of us to get prepared for nesting and babies now. Spring is a good time to birth the little ones which gives them plenty of time to grow up before the next winter sets in.
On a prior visit to Seahurst Park the flock entertained me by flying next to my car as I left. Check out this link to enjoy that with me.
Crow Love
Crows like humans tend to stay married to the same spouse. Right in my backyard the same pairs frequent our feeders and the hand outs we throw for them. From my office window in Renton I can watch each spring our resident pair build a new nest in the trees. Down by my beach on Puget Sound the huge mob/murder will divide up into pairs. Most notably the pair in the madrona forest.
Kevin J. McGowan of Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology has a FAQ on Crows that you can find at this link – Crow FAQs. Here is a clip from this article around crows and mating for life:
Do the male and female crow mate for life?
More or less. In general, it appears that they do. Unless a mate is killed or severely incapacitated, crows appear to stay with the same mate year after year. It is possible, however, for exceptions to occur. Generally this would happen in the case of a young pair of birds that mated but bred unsuccessfully. They might break the pair bond and try again with someone else. I had one young male return home after an unsuccessful first nesting attempt. Because the female was unmarked I do not know if she died or also went home to her folks.
Another quote I have on crow mates comes from a blog –Avesnoir.com. I found there a lovely post called 10 Really Weird Crow Facts. Here are two short facts on crow mating & sex.
#4 fact – Female Crows mate for life, but males will cheat, which explains the next one:
#5 fact – Male crows have no penis. Their sperm is transferred from their cloaca to the female cloaca and copulation only lasts 15 seconds. It is a wonder the females are so loyal!
I have a story that comes from when we raised our baby crow in 2006.
I must remind everyone that raising a baby bird is not the right thing to do unless there is no other option. It is technically illegal as well. We didn’t know that at the time but now that I have researched and lived the crow dream for 10 years I do know. That is why when Running Crow was hurt in our back yard I heeded my instinct to let her go free instead of sheltering her myself. Crow Running
Unless the baby crow is in immediate danger from a cat or dog or other deadly things please do not pick them up. Baby crows often are not able to fly upon first fledging from the nest. Their parents are close and know how to protect and finish raising them to adulthood. In the case of our baby the cat was inches away when I swept her up. I have to say her parents never left either. They were present every day in the trees around us.
Back to my story on relationships around mates and love. Months had flown by and our baby was my husband’s buddy following him around every day in the yard. One day another crow came to visit her(him). They seemed to hit it off and the visitor came back several times. Then one day they flew away together. That was the lovely end to our adventure saving and raising a crow.
Was that one of her family? Or was it another young crow looking for a mate? We humans want to put our feelings on the avian world and I am voting for crow love.
If you want more info on spring breeding here are two of my prior posts on this subject.
It is a tough time this not quite spring time. Food is still scarce and the trees are bare. The mass murder in Renton outside my office window seems to be dissipating and the families are spending more time in their home territories.
In the courtship period I particularly enjoy their flights of fancy swooping and performing acrobatics with each other or in larger flocks. I have a few pictures of this behavior.
In the weeks to come watch closely and you might be treated by a pair of crows sitting close, preening and reconnecting. Like humans they have a courtship time before they do the deed.
Before we know it we will see this cuddling turn to nest-building. Tall evergreen trees will become nurseries and the mama sound of a baby crow cry will ring through out the woods. The crow family will grow with more siblings to help the following year.
May you find crow love in your life. Doesn’t the world need a little more love?
Crowing Happy Thanksgiving
