Walking through the territory of Lod, Girlybird, and Junior, I came across this beautiful recently deceased dragonfly.
I think most people would never pick up a dead insect. Those who do are probably looking to pin the dead beauty to a piece of paper and frame it in a lightbox. Me, I just wanted to give it to my friends.
I feed them other gross things, too. During the hot spell I prepared them a special crow soup of scrambled eggs, water, and dried mealworms. I won't lie, once I dumped the mealworms into the eggs, I couldn't look at it anymore. I'm not normally a squeamish person, but something about dumping worms onto my breakfast leftovers just doesn't sit right. Even now, I can't look at this picture for too long. Oh, the things we do for love...
It was a hit, though.
When I was recording this, I thought I was looking at Junior, because as a juvenile he's about the same size as his mom, and they have very similar eyes. Their more distinctive features are hard to identify in bright sunlight, especially if they aren't on the ground. But watching this later I realized this was Girlybird, who had come down from the nest and scarf down a bunch of goods. Lod wanted to try some of the soup, too, but he let her go first, and managed to grab a little egg for himself.
From what I've observed of crow family untis in feeding situations where the food is readily available, the females are submissive to their mates and to their offspring. But once nesting season starts, the females become more aggressive around the food, chasing off husbands and children so they can eat first. The males are larger and stronger, and if they wanted to take charge, they easily could, but I tend to think that they are demonstrating compassion this time of year, as well as making their own job a little easier. While the female is nesting, the male has to bring her food and water throughout the day.
It must be hard for the females, having to sit on the nest all day, barely moving, waiting for your husband and helper crows (if you're lucky enough to have any) to bring you food and give you short breaks. It must be hard for the males, too, having to feed themselves and another fully grown crow. Then once the eggs hatch, the pair has to focus on feeding not only themselves, but a bunch of ever-hungry babies, on top of keeping them warm and safe and in the nest, defending their turf, keeping alert for predators both in the sky and on the ground, chasing away squirrels and jays that try to rob their food caches...
No rest for the crow. I'm glad I can help out. I know they appreciate it.
Girlybird, female American Crow, mated to Lod
Lod, male American Crow, mated to Girlybird
Junior, presumably male juvenile American Crow, offspring and helper crow of Lod and Girlybird, and master of comical expressions.
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