Tag Archives: Baby crow

June 9, 2016 · 2:57 am

5 reasons to leave baby crows alone 

Those blue eyes, that awkward gate, their seemingly constant precariousness, they’re all calling to you to intervene. Here are 5 reasons second guessing that instinct might be in the bird’s best interest.

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1) The vast majority don’t need your help. It’s totally normal for baby crows to be on the ground and flightless as long as they’re covered with feathers and appear otherwise alert and mobile. Even nestling crows are usually on the ground on purpose. Not because they are ready, but because their parents have intentionally rejected them for one reason or another. They will die and that’s ok. Part of coexisting with wildlife is giving them the agency to be wild. The story is different of course for species where the survival of individuals may mean the difference between population survival and extinction, especially because these situation are almost always driven by human activity.

2) It’s hard to tell when they’re stressed.  Recently, I saw a video on Facebook of a Steller’s jay fledgling in the care of a very well intentioned person.  She was giving it gentle strokes with her fingertips, each touch resulting in the young bird turning its head towards its back and opening its mouth.  The comment thread filled with ooo’s and awww’s and general comments of encouragement or gratitude for her actions.  For me it was like watching an alien attempt to care for a human child, the child recoiling and screaming while its caretakers congratulated themselves on how kind they were being.  Having handled baby corvids before, I know what that kind of posturing means, it means “I’m scared and stressed.”  To an untrained eye though, it may not look much different than the kind of gaping that means ‘feed me.’  Being stressed to death is a reality for young, or even adult animals, so any handling best be done by experts whenever possible.

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3) It’s illegal to rehab crows without a license. You can provide temporary care until you can get them to a licensed facility, but do not attempt to rehab them on your own.  Mistakes like the one I just described are a prime example of why the law seeks to protect animals by ensuring they are only raised or rehabilitated by experts.  For more information on how to handle them until you can get them to a facility visit my previous post.

4) Imprinted crows do not survive well in the wild.  Even if baby crows are receptive to being treated like a pet, doing so is both a legal violation and I would argue a violation of their right to be a wild animal with a healthy fear of people.  Of all my daydreams, at the top of the list is having a wild but imprinted crow that follows me around.  I even have a name picked out.  This fantasy of mine will forever remain just that, however, because it’s too dangerous to allow a crow to become that comfortable with people.  All it would take is one cranky neighbor with a pellet gun and it would be over.  Not to mention being imprinted on people, instead of crows, denies them access to skills and relationships with other crows that will help them survive into adulthood. 

5) It may do more harm than good.  The conventional wisdom suggests “well, worse case scenario is I try and rehab this baby crow and it dies, which it would have done anyway so really, nothing’s been lost.”  The more we study death in social animals the more we are beginning to realize there may be a cost to prematurely removing ailing or dead animals from their groupmates.  Being able to interact with their dead may serve an important role for social animals, and denying them this opportunity may have serious implications in their ability to process that death.  So be thoughtful about how slim the chance of survival is.  It might be that the kindest, most responsible action is no action at all.

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Filed under Corvid health, Crow behavior, Crow curiosities, Crow life history, Crows and humans, Uncategorized

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September 3, 2015 · 1:30 am

Baby crow detective work

By now, most of us have come across these images of  “baby crows” so often it induces more of a yawn than a fit of aggravation.
Image-1If, somehow, these images are new to you feel free to check out my post fully debunking them, as I will not dedicate any further time to them here.   But there’s a new photo circulating social media, and it makes for a much more compelling crow doppelganger;

baby crow
You’ve got three, black, altricial baby birds in a nest and really, they’re not terribly un-crow like.   It doesn’t make you a complete crow rookie to make this mistake, but there are some key things wrong here.  And this is the moment where, as a scientist, these photos elevate from being simply another source of annoying misinformation (which, they are) to the kind detective work that childhood doctor visits fostered a deep love for.  Because, not unlike my favorite activity in the Highlights magazines I anxiously parsed through in those waiting rooms, there are 4 things that are different between these two photos and it’s up to you to find them.  So take a minute and see what jumps out at you….

Crows_v_no crows
Figured it out (or given up)?  The first thing to know is that all bird species are very specific in terms of both nest materials and nest construction.  Sure, some birds can happily use some ribbon in place of straw (like orioles) or build nests in old shoes just as easily as in gutters (like bewick’s wrens) but the basic style is always the same.  Robins will always use mud as a binder and bushtit nests will always look like cozy sleeping bags made of moss.  Knowing that, the material used in the nest on the right should jump out as a red flag.  Of course you’ll find crow nests with a bit of string, fabric or grass (especially for lining) but the bulk of the nest is always made of pinky-wide sticks.   Really, you need look no further at this point to know immediately that the photo on the right is an impostor but let’s keep going because it’s fun.

Next let’s look at the babies themselves, which is where the three remaining differences are.  Two of them are color-coded, did you catch them?  Ah yes, gape and eye color.  See that brightly colored area on the corner of the bird’s developing beak?  That’s called the gape, and the bright color that flashes when they open their mouths is a powerful signal that tells parents to “insert food here”.  Crows have bright pink gapes, whereas these other birds have yellow gapes.  Our other color coded giveaway is the eyes.  Granted the lighting is not great, but it’s clear that the crows on the left have light blue eyes whereas these other birds have dark eyes.  In some species of crow the babies are born with brown eyes that turn blue as they age, but such is not the case with our American crows and you can expect that nestlings will always have blue eyes.  The last clue, which takes more expert level knowledge to notice, is the bill shape.  The birds on the right have a slightly more embellished curve to the bill than a typical crow chick.

The final mystery, of course, is what the birds on the right actually are.  Unfortunately, I failed to track down the original poster, but as best I can tell they’re black drongo chicks.  Black drongos are members of the drongo family (Dicruridae) and are native to Southern and Eastern Asia.  Here’s another photo I found that looks consistent with the previous one.  If any drongo experts read this blog though and want to correct me, I’d love to hear from you!

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May 28, 2015 · 8:30 am

Help, I’ve found a baby crow!

You’re walking down the sidewalk when suddenly you notice a waddling little mass of black feathers trying awkwardly to hide under a bush or car.  When you begin to approach the young crow, it simply stares up at you or perhaps continues on its poorly planned waddle down the sidewalk or worse, into traffic. Clearly this baby crow cannot fly and has a habit of making bad decisions.  Your instinct (and perhaps the opportunity to interact with a baby animal) are tempting you to intervene and “save” this young crow who seems ill prepared to be out of the nest.  What should you do?

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The bright blue eyes and pink bill tell you right away that this is a baby crow. Within about a week the bill will turn black like and adults’ but the eyes and mouth corners with remain blue and pink respectively.

The answer, almost always, is to ignore your instincts and good intentions.  I have many friends and colleagues who are either licensed wildlife rehabbers or who spent summers volunteering with their local rehab facilities, that can attest to the dozens of animals that get brought in during the spring and summer by well intentioned folks who assumed that finding a baby meant it needed help.  In many of these cases, these animals did not need help and now they’ve been separated from their parents or mother and stand a much lower chance of surviving once they’re released.  So how do you avoid making the same error?

First, understand that corvid babies (and many other open-cup nesting songbirds) very often leave the nest before they are completely flighted.  For crows, this early departure can be on the order of 7-10 days before they can fly.  Although this strategy is risky and leads to lower fledgling survival rates than for species that wait until the babies are fully flighted, the alternative is quite literally an “all your eggs in one basket” situation where the longer the kids stay in the nest the more chance they stand of being discovered by a predator who will then wipe out the whole brood.1  By pushing kids out sooner, the less developed ones may get caught by a predator or killed by some other means, but the stronger individuals stand a better chance of escaping. It’s not a great compromise, but its continued selection suggests it’s the one that works best.

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A crow’s nest is an example of an “open-cup” style nest, where the top is exposed, making them easier to spot and access by predators.  Other styles include cavity nests, which are made in holes, and pendant nests which are sock shaped nests.

During this vunerable time, the young are still in the care of their parents who will continue to feed and defend them until they reach independance. So finding a flightless baby crow or jay is totally normal between late May and July and does not imply that it has been abandoned or fallen out of the nest.

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This is the stage of development that most babies will be at when they leave the nest.  If your fledgling looks like this then it is okay.

Simply knowing this piece of corvid biology will lay to rest the concerns for most situations you may find yourself in this summer.  For babies that are naked, bleeding, have drooping wings, or are within reach of a dog or cat, etc., the following flow chart is excellent and will help navigate the situation (I’ve thrown in the mammal one too just for good measure).

Help, I’ve found a baby bird
Help, I’ve found a baby mammal

The main thing to remember is; as long as the baby is mostly feathered and being attended by its parents, it’s just where it needs to be.  Only if it’s trapped in a storm drain, naked, injured, cornered by a cat, or after several hours has not been visited by its parents is it appropriate to intervene.  Even in most of those cases, simply creating a makeshift nest out of a basket and securing it to a tree, or placing the baby in a bush and leaving the area, is much better than taking it away to a facility.  So use your best judgment this summer and remember; if you feel your situation is unique and has not been addressed by the flow charts provided, give a rehab facility a call and let them help you decide if an animal needs to be removed before you make the mistake of taking babies away from their parents.

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This baby has left the nest earlier than most of its peers. See how much more of its legs are exposed and how much shorter the wing feathers are in contrast to the other babies in this post? It will be quite a long time before it can fly. Still, this little one will be cared for and fed by its parents making it a good candidate for a makeshift nest secured to a high branch. If it jumps out right away then wish it luck and leave it be.

Literature cited

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May 15, 2015 · 1:48 pm

Corvid trivia quiz!

How much trivia do you know about our favorite family of birds?  Head on over to Buzzfeed where I’ve created a quiz to test your knowledge.  When you’re done, feel free to come back to this page and scroll past the corvid photos for more information, citations/links, and to post your score in the comments section.  Can anyone get 100%???

TAKE ME TO THE QUIZ

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ready crow
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1.  Were you surprised to learn that they are songbirds?  Indeed, corvids have impressive vocal repertoires and are among the minority of songbirds that can learn new sounds throughout their lives1.

2.  I’ve railed (get it?!) about this in a previous post but until this image stops circulating my Facebook feed I’ll take every opportunity show folks what real baby crows look like.

3.  The life span of different crow species (Fish, American, Hawaiian and Northwestern) is similar and generally they top out at between 14-24 years.  Ravens on the other hand, usually only make it to 13, though in captivity they can live 40-80 years1.

4.  It’s a common misconception that humans can get WNV  from touching a crow, but there’s no evidence for it according to the CDC.  It’s an understandable rumor, however, considering that corvids are an ideal host for this virus, something I’ve talk about in a previous post.  Humans on the other hand, are considered dead-end hosts, meaning the virus can’t proliferate in our bodies (though that doesn’t preclude it from making some of us very sick).  The real transmission culprits are mosquitoes.

5.  Learn more about the ‘Alala at American Bird Conservancy.

6.  Currently there are actually 7, not 6, ravens at the Tower (you know how those Brits are about their spares!).  According to Historic Royal Palaces they eat 170 g of raw meat a day, plus bird biscuits soaked in blood.   Yum!

7.  Originally, I was going to make the whole quiz just a corvid ID quiz, but I decided that might get old quickly.  Still wanted to get at least one question in there!

8.  Again, ‘murder’ and ‘unkindness’ are not words you’ll typically see in scientific writing (apart from, perhaps, as a means to a pithy article title).  But they make good trivia questions nonetheless.  Fun fact: Company is the term for parrots and deceit is for lapwings.

9.  John Marzluff discusses nearly all these behaviors in his books, so I’ll make thing easy and simply refer you to In the Company of Crows and Ravens.

10. New Caledonian crows are well know for their puzzle solving prowess, but I’m sure ‘007’ completing this task had his researchers especially delighted.  To see footage of 007 at work check out this video.

11. Keeping crows, like hunting them, is regulated under both federal and state laws.  To learn more about the rules regulating crows read my previous post on the Portland crow poisoning.

12. I recently acquired Crows and Jays by Madge and Burn, and recommend it to anyone who wants to become more familiar with all 120 species.

13.  See above.

14.  Part of why I wanted to create a trivia quiz is because I thought it would be a fun excuse to go hunting for a thing or two I didn’t know myself.  Jimmy’s story was exactly the kind of discovery I was hoping for.  Perhaps I’ll do a bit more digging and dedicate a whole post to it.

15.  It’s with good reason that John’s motto about crows is that “they’re little flying monkeys”.  I love this study2 and sharing its findings never gets old!  This kind of equity perception is something that’s been rarely documented outside of primates and underscores the impressive convergent evolve that’s occurred between corvids and primates.

Literature cited

1. Marzluff, J.M. and Angell, T. 2005.  In the company of crows and ravens.  Yale University Press

2. Wascher, C. F.  and Bugnyar, T. 2013.  Behavioral responses to inequity in reward distribution and working effort in crows and ravens.  Plos One: DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0056885

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January 31, 2015 · 6:13 pm

How to troll a corvid lover

In general, I find that crow people are lovely, and easy to get along with folk.  There are, however, two widely shared images that have proven themselves an effective trigger to turn an otherwise gentle corvid lover into a foaming at the mouth fact checker.  I say that as someone who has found themselves on the foaming end of that equation over some social media perpetuated misinformation on many occasions.  In the wealth of silly nonsense posts  a person could manufacture on corvids, why these are the two images that have become so ubiquitous on social media is a mystery to me.  Maybe it’s because people genuinely enjoy the narratives they offer, or have no reason to be suspicious of the images because they’re just beginning to learn about crow biology.   Or maybe some people know exactly what they’re doing and are just trolling to, ahem, ruffle a few feathers.

Either way, consider the following two images debunked.  So rest easy fellow fact checkers, until of course you see them posted again.  Probably tomorrow.

Myth: The infamous “baby crow”

These are not baby crows.

These are not baby crows.

I blame this one on BuzzFeed.  In what was trying to be a cool post on crows, but really turned out to be just riddled with terrible photo choices, they start off with one of these pictures as evidence for how cute baby crows are (despite photos of very obviously different looking actual baby crow further down the in the same post!).  Since BuzzFeed ranks one of the more trafficked sites on the internet, searching “baby crow” brings up the photo attached to the story.

Fact: Those cute fluffy babies are actually a variety of baby rails, including a corncrake.  Notice how feathery and soft they look, like a baby duck or chicken?  That’s because there are basically two strategies for how young are born.   They can be altricial, which means you’re born naked and blind (i.e helpless) or precocial, which means you’re born fully feathered or furred and are ready to go from day one.

Actual baby crow

Actual baby crow

Fun fact, most birds that are ground-nesters, so game birds, waterbirds, etc., are born feathered and adorable.  Whereas most birds born in arboreal nests are little naked jelly beans.  Crows, fall into the latter category as anyone who studies crows, rehabs crows, or curiously peeked into a crow nest can attest to.

 Myth: White ravens are cannibalized and are social pariahs

poor raven

I have no hypothesis as to where this came from or how it generated such momentum on social media, other than that it’s dramatic and offers a kind of ‘misery loves company’ on a crumby day.

Fact:  Leucism, which is what this is, is pretty common in crows and ravens (check out this post if you want to learn more about the causes).  Not to this degree, of course, but even a complete leucistic like this are not unheard of.  Although life is certainly a bit harder for them (they’re a little more conspicuous, leucism is often nested in other health problems, etc.) the suggestion that they’re eaten by their mothers is nonsense.  They are however, generally subordinate to regularly colored ravens which is maybe the kernel of truth that this originates from.

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