Halifax, Nova Scotia: Our Backyard Visitor

Did you know that baby crows have blue eyes?  I had no idea until I got a close-up look at the fledgling crow that's been resident in our yard since August 3.

Usually, I'm writing about places we've visited -- this time it's about an unexpected guest who arrived  on a holiday weekend and has stayed for a week.  As I write this, the yard has been quiet for several hours, which I'm hoping means that our guest has finally taken to the sky.

I've always enjoyed watching crows -- listening to them, not so much -- and I've especially enjoyed their creative approaches to tormenting our cat, Spike.  Until now, though, I'd never seen a baby and so have been reading up on them.  Here's what I've learned, thanks to several informative bloggers.

Baby crows are big -- nearly the size of a full-grown adult.  The differences are their feathers --  which are a grey brown colour and still fluffy, as opposed to the adult sleekness -- and their eye colour.  The babies have blue eyes until they are fully adult, at which point they turn to the standard amber/brown colour.

Baby crows are way too trusting.  They seem willing to consider just about anything as a potential friend.  This includes cats, racoons, people, bikes -- really, they don't discriminate.  This makes them very vulnerable, particularly to cats.

Spending a few days on the ground between leaving the nest and actually flying is very common for young crows.  And most survive the experience thanks to ever vigilant, ferociously protective, and extremely noisy parents.  We've counted four adults keeping watch over this fledgling.  They sit in our maple trees, chatting reassuringly with the baby, until our back door opens, at which point whoever emerges -- me, Vic or Spike -- is greeted with a deafening barrage of noise that keeps up until we return inside.  This means that for the past week, there have been no barbecues, no leisurely outdoor lunches, and for Spike, no naps in the sunshine.  Taking out the garbage is an adventure.  On the plus side, since we've made no threatening moves toward the baby, they haven't dive bombed us.  Yet.  Even Spike has given the fledgling a wide berth, thanks I think, to long experience with being bullied by crows as well as just getting old.

Below are some photos of our guest and one of his/her parents.  As you'll see, his/her favourite place in our yard was on the hammock --  my pillow was coated with crow poop.  We had 53 mm of rain last night which washed a way a lot of it, but I think there's going to be some serious scrubbing required before I lay on it again.

And one last photo of Spike, our lovely Siamese, who's been a veritable feline saint this week.

We've certainly enjoyed our visitor and I hope you do too.

Jan

Update

It's now been 11 days of sharing our yard with a baby crow, but I think he's finally flown!  I haven't heard him all morning and the guardian adults seem to have moved on as well.  I'm enjoying the quiet!

Here's a photo I took a couple of days ago.  He/she's much less fluffy now.  You can see how nicely his/her shiny, black adult feathers are coming in, which I take as a sign that flying has become possible.