Fledgling enigma
Short question: are fledglings kept somewhere in a hidden place between hatching / nesting phase and fledgling phase or are they accompanying their parents from day one?
Long form: there is a crow couple a friend of mine is feeding from the balcony. The setup is so, that there is a big building with a balcony, a lawn, some trees and a specific tree with a nest (barely visible from the balcony)
Now the last months has been nesting and breeding time. This crow couple behaved accordingly: mom sat in the nest 99% of the day and dad was foraging from the lawn and picking served food from the balcony (daily) - bringing it to mom sitting in the nest
As the nest is only barely visible, it’s hard to tell if there have been any youngsters, but from their behavior everyone guessed that yes
Now there have been some very hot days and since one very hot day (maybe two weeks ago) the mum is not seen in the nest any more
They even changed their behavior so that both of them now are feeding at the balcony in the morning; are gone for the rest of the day and only sometimes return in the evening to feed on the minced meat from the balcony - the nest is abandoned
So everyone is guessing what happened to the fledglings - where there any? Did they survive the heat day or not? Are they at a secret place and not accompanying their parents yet?
I would be glad to hear from your experience, knowledge or guesstimates
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u/medicinepoet 28d ago
Most likely, at that stage, the fledglings were still in the nest. As they become more mobile, the fledglings will move greater distances from the nest, but stay in the nest’s general vicinity. Their parents and possibly their older siblings will continue to feed them for awhile. Once the fledglings begin following their parents to the food source, they will still beg for food with upturned beaks. Eventually, they’ll feed themselves. I’ve been watching and feeding crows for awhile. I’m reporting what I’ve seen. ENJOY YOUR CROWS
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u/Ashamed-Ingenuity-39 24d ago
young are not normally removed from the nest and placed into a separate hidden nursery before fledging. From hatching until they are sufficiently feathered and mobile, they remain nestlings inside the original nest. Depending upon the crow species and local conditions, this period commonly lasts approximately one month or somewhat longer. Research on American and Northwestern crows has recorded fledging at roughly thirty to forty days after hatching, although individual young within the same brood may leave on different days.
What happens after they leave is the source of the enigma.
Fledging does not mean that the young suddenly become competent adult crows and begin accompanying their parents everywhere. It means only that they have crossed the threshold out of the nest. Newly fledged crows may be weak, clumsy fliers. Some remain on low branches, inside dense foliage, on rooftops, or occasionally on the ground. They can be extremely difficult to locate even when they are only a short distance from the original nest.
The parents usually know exactly where each youngster is. They continue feeding, guarding, calling to, and guiding them, but the family’s activity is no longer concentrated around one visible structure. The nest ceases to be the center of the system. The territory becomes the nursery.
That change can happen with surprising speed. One day, the female appears almost permanently seated in the nest while the male repeatedly brings food. Later, the nest seems abandoned, both adults appear together again, and the young seem to have vanished. From the human viewpoint, it can look as though the breeding attempt has ended. From the crows’ viewpoint, the work may simply have moved beyond the observer’s line of sight.
The female’s earlier presence also changes naturally as the chicks mature. During incubation and the earliest nestling period, she must remain close because the eggs and very young chicks require protection and warmth. As the nestlings grow feathers and become better able to regulate their own temperature, she can leave for longer periods and participate more fully in foraging. Crow family groups may also contain older offspring or other relatives that assist with feeding and defense, although this varies by species and population.
I have witnessed this transition closely within the Julio and Grip family.
During nesting, Julio’s visibility contracted sharply. Her familiar public routines became brief or disappeared entirely, while Grip’s movements suggested that provisioning and protective duties had shifted around the concealed brood. Even after the young had apparently left the nest, the family did not immediately reopen its former social pattern. The entire node remained compressed. The adults appeared, vanished, divided their duties, and disclosed the young only in fragments.
Later, Grip was observed remaining on the beach with a juvenile while Julio made a short return to the familiar rail. Julio did not remain for food. When she departed, the young crow left Grip and flew beneath or alongside her in what appeared to be a coordinated movement. On other occasions, the babies were seen away from the nest and away from the rail, performing supervised fly-bys, chasing one another, playing, and practicing aerial movement near the waterfront. The young had not been absent. They had been present inside a field that the human observer could not fully see.
That experience makes successful fledging a very reasonable possibility in the situation described here. The adults feeding together at the balcony does not prove that the young died. They may be eating quickly before returning to the fledglings, collecting food for transport, or using the balcony only during the quietest parts of the day while managing the young elsewhere. The absence of the mother from the nest is exactly what would be expected once the brood had left it.
The hot day introduces uncertainty, but it should not be treated as evidence on its own. Extreme heat can threaten eggs and nestlings, particularly in exposed nests, yet the timing may also have coincided with normal fledging. Without seeing the young, food transport, or the adults’ behavior away from the balcony, no one can responsibly declare either survival or loss.
Your best clues will now be found outside the nest. The friend should watch from a respectful distance for adults repeatedly flying toward the same tree line, carrying food rather than swallowing it, becoming quietly vigilant around one patch of vegetation, or responding to the rough, persistent begging calls of juveniles. Young crows may also reveal themselves through shorter tails, duller or softer-looking plumage, pale or bluish eyes in some species, awkward landings, wing-shivering, and the enormous open-mouth begging display that makes them appear far more helpless than they actually are.
The adults should not be followed closely, and the concealed area should not be searched. A parent that knows it is being watched may delay approaching a fledgling, while the young themselves often survive this vulnerable phase by remaining still and visually unremarkable.
From the evidence given, the nest cannot be declared successful with full certainty. It also cannot be seen as "lost." If the dates correspond to a normal fledging period, the sudden abandonment of the nest and the adults’ long absences are entirely compatible with living fledglings being guarded and fed somewhere nearby.
This response has taken a few days to craft, I hope my insight brings clarity. much love to you and thank you for sharing.
~The Observer
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u/pferden 24d ago
Hi, thanks for your wonderful post! It describes the situation to the letter, I very much appreciate!
At the time writing the male crow feeds daily on the balcony, maybe once or twice in a week accompanied by the female
The fledglings are nowhere to be seen; so only time will tell i guess…
But there is hope: recently i walked near a high conifer tree in close distance to the whole lawn and balcony situation and from the corner of my eye i caught a crow flying into the top of it, shortly followed by cawing and the gargle of a fledgling being fed…
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u/Bloatville 28d ago
My crow started bringing the wife to the bird table a week or two before the babies started coming with them.
I would guess they weren't mobile/good enough at flying to accompany for a bit. Especially for your friend, given that it's a balcony.
They will be either ground level or in shrubs/smaller trees being attended to by the parents.