Crow Advice on nest and mate that has died (1 Viewer)

[rockyrooster]

Hi Everyone, Kinda new to the group so hello

Just looking for a bit of advice.

We've had a couple of Crows now in the area for well over a year, we have a very large tree in our back garden and noticed that the Crows started to build their nest in it around 6 weeks ago, they have been busy building the nest and within the last week noticed the female just staying in the nest, I've been putting out bits of bacon as they tend to love that.

We have a lot of cats in the area (about 4 at least) and sadly one of them has killed the male Crow in my neighbours garden yesterday, my neighbour said it got stuck in his greenhouse netting and the cat seized the chance to kill it.

I'm quite upset by this as the female is now stuck on her own in the nest, I've been watching closely all day and she's just sat in there, I don't know if shes sat on eggs or not, I've only seen her leave once today and I don't think she has seen the male die.

Question is if she has eggs will they survive? as I noticed the male was feeding the female, also what happens if she does have eggs and the babies need feeding?

Is there anything I can do to help? I've thrown lots of food out today but she has ignored it, will another male step in? I haven't seen anymore Crows nearby apart from the said two.

Thanks in advance

Rob

 

[Mono]

There is a slim chance that the female will be able to hatch and rear the chicks on her own. There is zero chance that another male will step in. I'm afraid the most likely outcome is that the female will abandon the nest. Crows will also use "helpers", usually older siblings, that assist in raising the young. But if you have only seen two crows around it is unlikely that this is the case here.

There is little you can do to help, putting out additional food may help but it won't make up for the lack of a male.

Although crows "mate for life", there is a good chance the female will take a new mate for next year.

More on crow breeding here.
https://corvidresearch.blog/2015/03/05/all-in-the-crow-family/

 

[KC Foggin]

Hi there and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum :t:

I would have to agree with Mono's advice and if you don't mind could you keep us updated?

 

[rockyrooster]

Hi Fellas, thanks for your help and advice , I've been monitoring today and I've only seen her sitting on the nest a couple of hours, she flew off for a while then came back again, I've thrown some food down but it hasn't touched it.

I shall keep daily watch on it and give updates

Thanks

Rob

 

[KC Foggin]

Thanks Rob and fingers crossed.

 

[delia todd]

Hi Rob and a warm welcome from me too.

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I hope to hear about all the birds you see when out and about.

As KC said, please keep us informed as to what happens.

 

[rockyrooster]

Afternoon everyone

Just an update, yesterday evening the female was still in the nest, at around 7pm I heard lots of noise coming from the back of the house, I looked up and saw two more Crows fighting with the female, I'm unsure if they were male or not but it looked like the female was defending her nest, they all ended up fighting on the ground, 20mins later the female was back in the nest.

Is this normal for fights to be happening with other Crows?

I've seen her flying from the nest a few times today but she must be sat on eggs surely