The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It's the place to note any observations you have made of the natural world around you. New birds passing through? Something interesting living in your compost? Frog music? You can report anything of interest going on in your natural neighborhood. All we ask is that let us know where you are located, as close as is comfortable for you.
Seattle. February 9, 2015.
My neighbor feeds the crows every day. Every one of them, as well as the Steller's Jays, and anyone else who stops by as she tosses peanuts from her back porch. I know when she feeds by the cacophony of sound and the cloud of happy birds flying from all directions over the yard.
I'm not as generous. I set out five pieces of dog kibble between 9:30 and 10:00AM every morning, lining them up along the top of the back porch railing. This began last spring, when I noticed that a family of crows had set up housekeeping in the big cedar in the wayback of our yard. Every morning I'd set out the kibble. Within minutes, a crow would appear, cautiously marching across the porch railing to pick up each piece, one at a time, then flying up to the nest. At first there would be silence when the food laden crow disappeared into the cedar branches. After a while there would be great anticipatory vocalizations from the top of the tree as soon as the crow landed on the railing. Later, one crow would come to the railing to pick up the morning kibble, and a clumsy cohort of red-gaped youngsters would follow, crying from the surrounding trees: "Me! Me! Me!"
After the kids had fledged, I found that I could count on three crows appearing every morning between 9:45 and 10:00AM, one on the railing; one on the peak of the roof; one hiding in the trees. They're there every morning. If I'm late the boldest one caws for my attention.
Crow shadow on the wall above my desk. It's 10:02AM and I'm late with the morning kibble.
I recognize each one now, not by sight, but by behavior. Crow 1 is the boldest, and will march right up the railing to the food and pick up each piece with me standing only a few feet away. Crow 2 needs me to stand towards the far end of the deck before taking the food. Crow 3 will not approach until I move into the shadow of the open doorway. The interesting thing is that only one crow gets food every morning - one crow takes it all and flies off, with the other two just following in silence, or moving on in other directions.
Crow 2, waiting for me to move.
Something new happened yesterday morning. Crow 2 was the first to land on the railing, and as usual, waited until I'd moved to a more comfortable space before approaching the food. As Crow 2 took the food a second crow flew down, landed on the far edge of the railing and begged, wide mouthed, wings fluttering, in the same way I'd seen last year's fledglings begging when they first came down from the nest.
Crow 2, after taking food, with a second crow begging.
I'm not sure what this was all about. My first thought was that it might be some kind of courting behavior, with a female soliciting food from her mate. I spent some time searching through the academic version of Cornell's Birds of North America Online (unfortunately very pricey unless you can access it through a library), only to find that early season courting behavior in crows hasn't really been described yet. The only other thing I can think of is that the beggar was one of last year's kids, still taking advantage of a willing parent. Crow families stay close, with some of the kids hanging around for a season or two to help out with the care of their new siblings.
Any ideas?
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What's happening in your back yard? Everyone is welcome to add their observations to the Bucket. I'll be in between 9:00AM and 1:00PM PST, then back in the late afternoon and through the evening.
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