Two is better than one

Finding a significant other is an important part of human life - we are made to believe, often at a very young age, that we need a partner; that two against the world is a lot better than one; that life alone is lonely and treacherous (by the way, it's not).  For crows, however, pairing up is not only an important part of their lives, but also a need. Without a partner there is no reproduction, and without reproduction species can quickly become extinct - so reproduction becomes very much a key part of survival, and they know this.

For the crows pairs are for life, and after they pair up, they stay paired up until one of them dies. Crows that lose a partner will likely pair up again if they are relatively young. If older, they tend to remain unpaired, which subsequently leads to the loss of territory and a lowering in rank. They will also grieve (although this is somewhat subject to debate) and in most cases there will also be a 'funeral', especially if there was an untimely death... 

During my walks, over the years, I have watched 5 pairs work on their bond, raise their broods, fight their territories. Alongside my local murder (majority of whom are youngsters), there are three pairs that I got to know very well, and this is a little bit of their story... 

Perses and Asteria,  my neighbours down the road... 

Perses and Asteria 
(22/01/2021)

They are not that young and they certainly know what they are doing. Last year they would be perching on the aerial on my roof, or on the cherry tree in front of my back garden (outside nesting season). Now the cherry tree is no more, and the aerial has been taken by Zeus and Leto, who claimed successfully my house as theirs. Perses and Asteria have moved further down the road and I make sure I walk past their turf on my way home.

Perses and Asteria behind me
whilst I worked out in the garden
(22/01/2021)

Some things I noticed about this power couple... 

He seems to be the main provider, and is often seen foraging in different areas, looking for bugs and worms. He is bulky and strong, and can easily take a chicken drumstick in his beak. He is feisty and can take predators down, but has gotten hurt last Spring and is now permanently limping.  Asteria is bold and beautiful, she talks to me and used to call me whenever she wanted me to go out into the garden. When they come down to eat, he takes away the best bits, but always leaves something behind for her to grab. They work as a team in defending their territory from other crows (Spring time) and/or predators - although  another (youngish) couple (Zeus and Leto) has been doing that a lot more these days. It seems I am now living in a very disputed territory.

Asteria and Perses were my very first and real positive interaction with crows from home.

Zeus and Leto, my neighbouring pair...

Leto (back) and Zeus (front)
(19/01/2022)

These two are a young'ish pair, but they have the largest territory of all the pairs I know. They claimed my house last year to Perses and Asteria in a war that lasted days. The final dispute may have been the one I was caught up in the middle of. I was returning home one morning, and both pairs challenged each other on where is now a border for two territories. I will never forget the menacing rattles, the fly-fighting, the females attacking each other, the males giving chase only to abruptly fall from the sky... There was nothing I could do but watch, teary and completely heartbroken.

Zeus on the gate, talking to me
(06/03/2023)

Perses and Asteria started to visit me in the evening - after Zeus and Leto were gone for the night - and for a while I held serious grudges against this pair, to the point I refused to leave peanuts out for them. But I can't hold grudges for long... 

Zeus and Leto have been slowly carving a little space in my heart since then. Zeus more than Leto - females are so skittish, I find. He is the opposite, very curious about me, knows my routines well, has enough confidence to approach me. I find him often waiting for me in a nearby lamp or rooftop when I am about to leave home and head for the park. A few weeks ago he even serenated me whilst standing on a neighbouring gate. He is brave, I have seen him fight buzzards, red kites, and even sparrow hawks. Nothing seems to scare him. 

I can easily recognise him in flight because his wings are always shattered come nesting season. I assumed his wings were bad because of fights, or poor nutrition - but the nutrition hasn't been bad at all for the last year or so, with this couple eating whatever my birds don't eat. I haven't seen many fights at all this year either, but he has holes in his wings yet again. I am now suspecting his nest may be in a place that is hard to reach and possibly full of branches. 

Cronus and Rhea, the trusting couple (and my favourite pair). 

I have met them 4 years ago, give or take. I always walk by their territory on my daily walks and they are often foraging near a patch of grass close to the main road. This is a really urban area, and they have some trees but a lot of cars and a lot of people. Similar to other pairs I see, Cronus seems to be a lot more courageous than Rhea... but over the last few months Rhea has been surprisingly trusting. They are a lovely pair. He chases me by jumping from roof to roof, and she follows suit. They were the first pair who introduced me to their offspring. They also tend to nest earlier than others. As I write this, Rhea has been sitting in the nest for over a week now, the other pairs are still very much showing up together.

Rhea 

Cronus

They have learned to recognise my whistle when I am nearby, and will quickly fly over to collect some peanuts before they go back to do their crow things. Cronus was one of the families to talk back at me (the first one was Asteria). 

They are both bulky birds, with beautiful faces. Remarkable parents too: last year they had 4 successful fledglings! They fooled me well, I assumed they had no babies at all for a while, and when I thought their nest had failed I could hear the youngsters begging for food whilst hidden in the trees. That was a wonderful surprise!

***

The other two pairs are Pegasus and Athena, who live a few streets down from me; and Hermes and Peitho, who live between the murder and Cronus & Rhea. 

I have noticed common traits between all these families. For example, females are a lot more skittish than the males. The rattles are also only uttered by them - males prefer soft caws with clicks at the end. They are all friendly towards me, no doubt because they live in an urban environment and are accustomed to people around.  They are not so friendly towards other crows, especially if they dare landing in their territory. 

As pairs, they are caring, with the female always on the look out from the top of a tree or rooftop, whilst the male forages and investigates whatever it is to be investigated. They work together to hide their caches, but sometimes the males love to take everything away. The female is then left with only a tiny little bit of food. In some pairs this is met with retaliation by the female, who then ensures the male gets nothing the next time a peanut is dispensed by the human (a.k.a. me).

Not too dissimilar to a human couple, really...