40 Replies to ""Banded" crow rescued at Forest Lawn - but whose crow is it?"

• Cheryl December 10, 2009 (3:09 am)

  Wow, he’s beautiful! I sure hope his owner is looking for him & that he wasn’t “dumped”. :-(

• Babs December 10, 2009 (6:37 am)

  What a cutie! Kudos to Jeff for his life saving of this guy. If the owner does not step up I bet there will be a line of folks offering a new home. I sure would. WSB: please keep us posted.

• ca December 10, 2009 (7:39 am)

  Ah, what a beautiful bird! I hope he wasnt dumped either kudos to the good person who took him in and saved him!! WSB please keep us posted!!!!

• PeterT December 10, 2009 (9:08 am)

  Although it references ‘parrots’ particularly, the following site:

  http://www.pionusparrot.com/registry.htm

  …has a means by which you can enter the band code and start tracing back breeding information. Hopefully, this will help get this little guy back to his owner.

• Jeff Jorgenson December 10, 2009 (10:13 am)

  Thank you all for the response! Just to give credit where credit is due, it was our cemetery grounds specialists that found this poor kid nestled in some frozen flowers left after a service. It has been a team effort in trying to get (s)he warm, fed, watered and returned. I’m headed to go check the band right now! Thanks for the link Peter! We’ll keep everyone up to date!

• funkietoo December 10, 2009 (10:32 am)

  Thank you for caring and saving his life.

  Please consider calling Seattle Animal Shelter and report that you found this crow. They may or may not ask you to bring him in. Birds require specialized care, so you can check with them on how to properly care for crows. Plus, they may have some ideas on how to find the owner, or if someone calls you, how to confirm that individual is the crow’s owner. Sarvy is also an excellent resource regarding bird care.

• laurie December 10, 2009 (11:22 am)

  WSB please update this story if the bird becomes eligible for adoption. Thanks!

• John December 10, 2009 (1:53 pm)

  That bird is beautiful looking. That white band is amazing. I hope (s)he wasn’t abandoned. That sorta human behavior drives me nuts. The bird would have died a miserable death if your grounds specialists hadn’t found it. I’m glad your employee cares for birds.

• Westside J. December 10, 2009 (4:31 pm)

  Kudos for all involved, so many people anymore these days wouldn’t care. :(

• Traci December 10, 2009 (4:57 pm)

  The people that cared to bring this little guy in are wonderful :)

• marcos December 10, 2009 (5:12 pm)

  Jeff I may be able to help I tried to call but you already left for the day I try tomorrow if I can get a minute while im at work if not can you e-mail me a afternoon phone number at marcosclement@hotmail.com
  thanks, marcos

• Jeff Jorgenson December 10, 2009 (10:26 pm)

  Thank you to everyone following this thread! I am sorry that I have been unable to get back to many of those that have called, although I will get in touch with you tomorrow. For those that are curious, the band on the leg didn’t translate to the registry from Peter’s post and the investigation continues.

  I spoke with Seattle Animal Shelter today and they said “Well I don’t know, but you can always bring it in. We’re open until 6:00” I figured we would give it another day before we take that step. Those of you that are concerned, we are very aware of the fact that this is a very unique animal that requires some special care and love, so we will be getting it to someone far more qualified than us should the owner (providing some form of proof of ownership ~ like the band code) not come forward *very* soon. As it is, this bird has a warm and cozy place to spend the night.

  More to come. :)

• Suzanne Krom December 11, 2009 (1:29 am)

  If this crow’s owner isn’t found quickly, s/he should be taken to an avian specialist asap. The people at Sarvey Wildlife Center are well qualified to care for this crow– http://www.sarveywildlife.org/, 360-435-4817 is the number for their the clinic. Do not take him to the Seattle Animal Shelter. They do not have the expertise that Sarvey does.

  Birds are extremely vulnerable. It doesn’t take much for them to go into a downward spiral and it can happen frighteningly fast. They can put on a good show of being healthy when they are actually very sick. They have to do this in the wild so that the others won’t kill them. The signs can be very subtle.

  Please get this bird to Sarvey. They have a drop-off vet in Renton — Renton Veterinary Hospital, http://www.rentonvet.com/.

• something2crowabout December 11, 2009 (4:38 am)

  what about the woodland park zoo?

• hugh December 11, 2009 (10:04 am)

  the only person in the us that breeds pied corvids is a man named brian glazer. you can email him and i’m sure he would have information. his site is http://corvitude.com/corvidranch.html. good luck

• Trileigh December 11, 2009 (10:23 am)

  I’m contacting a local birders’ organization – hopefully one of them will claim this beautiful animal.

• Tom December 11, 2009 (11:05 am)

  Hugh’s comment shows the value of WSB – I was wondering how someone would get a Pied Crow as a pet, and that’s probably the answer (that and $1500!).

  But the comments expressing a need for an avian specialist are a little overblown. This is a tame crow, which means it’s a smart, adaptable, friendly bird that will eat almost anything: talk to it, feed it some protein, and enjoy its company while it is in your care.

• sam December 11, 2009 (12:44 pm)

  I checked the link provided by Hugh as I was curious for more information about keeping crows as pets (I don’t plan on it- was just trying to find out why). I got distracted by the fact that he breeds vultures too ! $ 4,000- that’s not for a pet is it, he would sell them to zoos, right ?

• Suzanne Krom December 11, 2009 (3:12 pm)

  Regarding Tom’s comment, if a vet isn’t trained specifically to treat birds, they will know very little about them.

• Jeff Jorgenson December 11, 2009 (4:36 pm)

  Hello all!! Friday update!
  Thanks to someone here on the WSB, the breeder called me from Alabama – Corvid Ranch – just as we were discussing the move to Sarvey. He provided me with the band information and an address that matches up with the cemetery such that there is no question as to who belongs to this crow. I have a call into them and am awaiting their return. So, for the time being, the six month old crow is comfortably resting with private fireplace and blanket until the owner gets home. Thanks again WSBers!!! :)

• rockergirl December 11, 2009 (7:27 pm)

  Awesome Jeff – hopefully they will be happy to get there crow back. Thanks for taking care of it and finding the owner!

• susan December 11, 2009 (8:22 pm)

  Any news? Is (s)he on the way back home?

  • WSB December 11, 2009 (8:25 pm)

    Won’t know till Jeff checks back in.

• Dana December 13, 2009 (12:15 pm)

  Any news? Did the crow make it home? I’m on a Crows list on Yahoo that might be helpful to the owners, if you think they’d be interested, I can give you the link.

• ca December 13, 2009 (4:09 pm)

  did the crow make it back to its owners? Jeff…were are you update us! =)

• dawsonct December 13, 2009 (7:09 pm)

  Great! Now I want a vulture. I guess I ought to get two of ’em, to keep each other company.
  –
  It’s Sunday, Jeff, how about an update. That was too expensive a pet to have been abandoned.

• Jeff Jorgenson December 14, 2009 (9:54 am)

  I’m so sorry I haven’t checked back in sooner!!
  We still have the crow. The owner isn’t returning our calls and the grounds guys are on their way over right now to knock on their door to see if we can’t get some response that way. With voice mails in and drop bys, there aren’t many other efforts we can go with. If we don’t get a response by tomorrow, we are going to need to get the crow to Sarvey and/or look to Brian, the breeder for guidance to gather his input on how we should proceed.

  So there’s the update! I’ll be more vigilant in my updates. Sorry about that! :)

• Dana December 14, 2009 (12:16 pm)

  Wow. Very strange. If you’d like a bag of hopper mice to feed him, I can give you one. How’s he doing?

• zach December 14, 2009 (6:35 pm)

  The monetary expense of acquiring and even housing a lone bonded corvid as a companion is dwarfed by the fiscal equivalent of time that should be dedicated to one, especially an African variety that has evolved to be wary due to the predator rich competitive environment they come from. I am not implying that the bird has been abandoned just that the true expense of having a corvid is not the buy in but the time spent afterward. I wish the bird luck and I hope who ever claims it allows its wings to grow in this summer.

• dawsonct December 14, 2009 (7:45 pm)

  I don’t think encouraging inter-breeding with the native population is a very good idea. We should try to avoid allowing (any more) potentially invasive species, both flora and fauna, from establishing a beach-head in our environment.

• Dana December 14, 2009 (8:09 pm)

  @dawsonct…did somebody suggest iinter-breeding this bird? I missed that if they did.

• zach December 14, 2009 (10:33 pm)

  I agree invasive species=bad (if introduced by humans) and dont think introducing this bird is a threat. To get an African pied crow in to a local native family (of ravens)you would probably have to plant an egg in the locals nest, a bird such as the one found would be killed by locals before it was given breeding rights. There is a slim chance the Pied crow(raven) would interbreed but it would never make it till spring in the wild with clipped wings. Keep invasive species out keep local species pets? talk to your state reps?

• dawsonct December 15, 2009 (10:31 am)

  I need an explanation then, Zach, are you suggesting that the bird would be lucky to have it’s wings grow in so it could fly away and be killed by native populations? I am now even more confused by your last sentence.
  Intra-species breeding among birds is not uncommon. Sure, you won’t find an eagle nesting with a hummingbird, but if the size difference isn’t an issue, similiar birds will interbreed. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/11/speciation-in-action/

• zach December 15, 2009 (10:42 am)

  I am as confused as you, I think. I am NOT pro abandonment. You must have misinterpreted my first post.

• Dana December 15, 2009 (12:23 pm)

  @ dawsonct….it’s not too difficult to train birds to recall to you. I’ve been involved in the recovery efforts on many escaped parrots, and I can tell you that it’s much easier to get the flighted ones back. Especially if their flight skills are good. I have many friends who intentionally free fly their pet birds, so it’s not that difficult.

  I SERIOUSLY doubt that a Pied Crow would breed with our native species. It’s a very rare thing in nature. Otherwise, you’d be seeing hybrid species of all kinds flying around. Just doesn’t happen.

• hugh December 15, 2009 (2:50 pm)

  @ dawsonct to echo what dana said, the likelihood of an african pied crow breeding and producing viable offspring with a native corvid is very low. parrots in the wild don’t hybridize, even tho they are in close proximity to others of the same genus. when forced to hybridize in captivity, few eggs are viable (and as a side note, an eagle couldn’t reproduce with a hummingbird because they are in the same class [aves}they are in very different orders, and so could never meet up genetically and therefore has nothing to do with size). also, in terms of its own survival, if it were to be attacked by other corvids or raptors, doesn’t it stand a better chance if its flighted and can get away? seems to me it does.

• Jeff Jorgenson December 16, 2009 (10:26 am)

  @Dana Thank you (I think) for the hopper mice offer. I can honestly say I’ve never been offered such a thing. lol The crow was picked up by a foster for Sarvey yesterday and will be in expert care as the attempts to contact the owner continue.

  We do have a cat that has adopted us during the day who may love hopper mice… (totally kidding – he’s fine with Fancy Feast)

  We at Forest Lawn are pushovers when it comes to the fur and feather people. :)

• Dana December 16, 2009 (12:23 pm)

  Jeff, I’ve been trying to get those bad cats of mine to eat mice for YEARS!!!! They turn up their noses. Sigh.

  Will you let us know if you hear any more news about the crow? I’m guessing the owners must be out of town or something. Still, odd.

• Rebecca Wells December 17, 2009 (9:58 am)

  I’m so glad to hear that Sarvey was able to step in and provide an foster home for the pied crow until the owner can be contacted. It is strange that they are out of contact, which makes me wonder if anyone was caring for the crow in their absence. Thank you Jeff and the rest of the Forest Lawn staff for saving this bird’s life.

• Beth Surdut December 21, 2009 (12:07 pm)

  Did you find a good home for the beautiful foundling? I specialize in drawing corvids–Ravens in particular- and collecting stories about them.
  Regards from New Mexico,
  Beth Surdut

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