Seattle Crows: Toad Junior Model 2013

Mr Toad hanging out with our Greenwing Macaw Roxanne

We moved into our Ballard home in North Seattle in 1999. We set up a play stand out back for our Greenwing macaw and Diva parrot Roxanne. After a year or two we noticed a particular crow hanging around Roxanne. The crow was notable for one straight toe on its left foot, so easy to spot. We named the crow Mr Toad. Mr Toad seemed particularly interested in Roxanne. He would perch on the fence along Roxanne's play stand, and just sit and watch Roxanne. Her colors must fascinate him. Some times he would sit on the play stand waiting for Roxanne to come out.

Some time later we realized that Mr Toad had a Mrs Toad. A sleek and good looking lady crow. Then one summer the Toads showed up with a Toad Junior. Then every summer after they would show up to introduce the current model Toad Junior to us. And needless to say, every summer we look forward to meeting the new Junior.

Closeup of Mr Toad's toe

The Toad Family: Mrs (near) and Mr Toad, with Junior (farthest)

Juvenile crows are very needy. Very hungry. And very loud. Some are down right obnoxious. It must be tough being crow parents. Some years Junior is more obnoxious than other years. Last year was the worst of the bunch we've seen. Loud, hungry, needy, and obnoxious. Especially at 6:00 am outside our bedroom window. We wondered how the parents managed. Toad Junior Model 2013 is actually sedate by comparison.

The Toads hanging out on Roxanne's stand

We love looking out for the Toads each and every day, and we know that the Toads look for us. They usually sit outside the house and call to let us know they are there. Usually to get fed. We put discarded parrot food out for them to eat, along with the pigeons. We probably have the best fed crows in the city.

Toad Junior Model 2013

Mr and Mrs Toad, along with Toad Junior, visited us for brunch once again today. We're confident that Mr and Mrs Toad will continue to visit us, and Roxanne, each and every day. But we also know from past experience that sooner or later Toad Junior will simply disappear. As he grows up, he will eventually take off on his own to establish his own territory, and his own family. We wish the Juniors would come back to visit, but they never do. We'd love to know how they're doing.

Mr Toad often comes by the back yard just to hang out with Roxanne. Or just to hang out waiting for Roxanne to come out. We figure the Mrs must be out shopping. Or something. We know that one day Mr Toad will simply fail to show up. Crows are reputed to have a lifespan of twenty to thirty years, so we hope the Toads will continue to visit for years to come. It will be a sad day when they finally disappear.

Every once in a while we find an object on our back steps. A nail. A button. A piece of glass. Some trinket like that. We've never seen them do it, but our best guess is that the Toads drop off these tokens as appreciation for feeding them. We like to think so anyway.

Snow Crows: Crows Just Like to Have Fun

With Seattle looking more like Anchorage this week during one of the heaviest snowfalls this city has experienced in years, we were somewhat concerned for our neighborhood critters here in North Seattle's Ballard neighborhood. Seattle gets snow so infrequently that our parrots were quite agitated, not knowing what to make of the white blanket outside the windows. We kept our wild bird feeders full, and kept our fingers crossed. Our neighborhood crows kept coming by to check out the cat food dish, and our resident Anna's Hummingbirds kept showing up at the hummingbird feeder at first light.


Apparently we didn't need to be overly concerned. Our Greenwing macaw and Diva parrot Roxanne has a crow friend we call Mr. Toad, for one notable straight toe. Mr. and Mrs. Toad (a cute couple at that) have been hanging around our back yard play stands for years and usually stop by to visit with Roxanne whenever she's out in the back yard on the play stands. Well, during the height of the snow storm this week we caught Mr. Toad frolicking in the snow in our front yard taking a snow bath. We can only imagine what Mrs. Toad was thinking.

The Strange Case of The Barking Crow

To set the scene: We have a parrot stand out in our backyard for our Diva Parrot and Greenwing Macaw Roxanne. Actually three separate stands placed next to each other. Roxanne likes to sit out back and watch the birds and airplanes (power birds) fly overhead. Except when the Goodyear blimp sails overhead, but that's an entirely different story. Roxanne also has an admiring coven of crows that like to hang out around the yard and observe her. They typically sit on the cedar fence surrounding the backyard but generally they stay away from her stand.

A few days ago we observed a crow sitting on her stand not three feet from Roxanne, barking. We thought that was odd, so we ran to get our video recorder. Unfortunately the crow took flight as soon as we returned.

To prove this wasn't a fluke, several days later we observed the same crow sitting in the same spot, once again barking at Roxanne. We ran for the camera again. This time we were able to record the event. After about a minute, the crow flew up to the gutter on the neighbor's house, and continued barking for another minute or so.

Then the next day the same crow was back, observed doing the very same thing. Clearly this crow is trying to communicate with our Greenwing Macaw Roxanne. See for yourselves, and listen carefully:

Anyone have any ideas or conjecture just what the heck is going on? Could it be birdie love? We have a flock of crows that live in the neighborhood, and we can identify several individuals by sight. This is a new bird There is a six foot tall cedar fence surrounding our backyard, and the crows like to hang out on the fence and stare at Roxanne. They must be highly impressed. We've never before seen a crow sitting on her stand.

Roxanne has actually taught one of the crows to say Hi. We wouldn't believe it if we hadn't actually seen it. Wish we had a recording of that!

Postscript: The same crow was observed back in the same spot on Thursday, February 4, 2010, once again barking at our Greenwing macaw Roxanne. And as we type this on Saturday, February 6th, Roxanne and the same crow are out there once again. It has to be avian love!


Additional Postscript: The same crow was observed on the neighbor's roof Saturday morning, December 18th, 2010, barking for Roxanne. Unfortunately for the crow, this time of year Roxanne spends very little time out on her back play stand because of the continuing monsoon. We try to explain to Roxanne that wild crows and other birds live out in the cold and rain year around, but she's not buying it. She prefers to stay indoors.