Gandalf the Crow close ups

[NiRD]

Can you tell I'm obsessed with this bird?

I have been around birds for a while. I have been around intelligent animals of all species my entire career. However, I am so impressed with this bird. He just amazes me every day.

Here are some Gandalf close ups.

 

[kq_fan]

He is a very handsome crow! I like his name too! You should teach him to say "you shall not pass!"

 

[RavensGryf]

Gandalf is beautiful! What type and size enclosure do you keep him in? I'm sure he plays with toys in his cage like a parrot? What is his diet?

 

[MrsKay]

Gandolf is a beauty! You should teach him to say "NEVERMORE, NEVERMORE" hahahhah

 

[RavensGryf]

Gandolf is a beauty! You should teach him to say "NEVERMORE, NEVERMORE" hahahhah

Haha even though not a Raven!

 

[RavensGryf]

I'd LOVE to hear a Corvid species talk! I wonder how it sounds as compared to a parrot?

 

[Terry57]

Gandalf is stunning! No wonder you are obsessed with him, he is amazing.

 

[Kiwibird]

Gandalf is beautiful. His feathers are so shiny! I know there are different species of crow, but I've never seen one with the white "vest" before, only all-black. It's really cool looking. The blue eyes too! Do the flipped up feathers near his nose serve any special purpose?

 

[thekarens]

Very handsome!

 

[NiRD]

I'll try to answer everybody. First off, thank you for the compliments on Gandalf. We are working on mimicking speech, and corvids actually mimic human speech better than parrots. There are stories floating around about corvids calling the wife in the husband's voice or the other way around, and the spouse not realizing it was the bird.

Gandalf lives in quite a large indoor enclosure. It's six feet long, four feet wide, and just under five feet tall. This is what is considered to be the absolute minimum size requirement for a crow. They don't use their beak to climb, so they actually need flight space to get around. He also has an outdoor flight area that's large enough for falconry training. I believe it's sixty by fourth by twenty, but I've never officially measured.

His diet is much like a parrot's with a few differences. While he gets grains, fresh fruit and vegetables daily, he also gets the addition of high quality red meat and a pellet called RC 20. Protein never exceeds 20% of his diet. He also takes a few different supplements daily. Because of their extremely fast metabolism, Gandalf needs extra calcium, vitamins, and minerals. I also give him, as well as the rest of my birds Diatomaceous Earth.

Gandalf loves toys, but many parrot toys are considered unsafe for corvids. Most of his toys resemble a kindergartener's toys, or toys for a dog trained in detection.

Gandalf is an African pied crow. They all have the white vest like this. Their eyes are supposed to turn brown, but his haven't yet. I'm hoping they will stay blue, but I am not counting on it. Also, the feathers that flip up on his nose are a recessive mutation. They aren't supposed to do that, but his do. His breeder said he's never seen that before. It makes him look rather goofy if you ask me, but I still love him anyway. I just have a hard time taking him seriously when he throws a temper tantrum.

 

[Blancaej]

Very beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Dustbunny]

I have to be honest, I find Gandalf strikingly handsome but also a little creepy. Sorry, I'm certain I've just read/watched one too many horror stories. It's not him, it's me.

I am curious though why you give your birds diatomaceous earth. I recently heard about it in relation to it being a safe wormer for pregnant cats. I tried it on a pregnant stray cat before bringing her into my home. She then tested negative for worms at the vet. I don't know if she had worms before I gave her the diatomaceous earth though, but it's hard to believe she didn't since I'm fairly certain she was born and raised outside. So now I'm curious what benefits it might offer birds.

 

[NiRD]

I'm actually happy you say that. We own a company that not only does education with creepy animals, but we train them for events such as Halloween themed events. I take no offence what so ever.

I actually use DE as a dewormer. I work with many species of animals, including dogs kept in a kennel and freshly imported reptiles. I feed DE to all my birds year round to prevent them from getting worms.

 

[Dustbunny]

Oh Gandalf will almost certainly be a Halloween star.

Ahh a bird dewormer! Thanks. I don't know why my brain didn't think of that, but I kept having this niggling thought in the back of my mind I heard it was good for people's skin. Then I kept thinking, is it good for the birds' feathers or something? Nope. Just the obvious. Dewormer. LOL.

I'd like to try this. Do you know how much a bird is supposed to get based on weight or species? And do you feed it every day or just once a week/month? Also, for anyone who may only be hearing about diatomaceous earth for the first time, we should mention use food-grade only!

 

[Kiwibird]

Ah, I thought the flipped up feathers might be to keep dust out of his nostrils or fancy plumage to attract a mate or something. He must like sporting a mustache then if they serve no other purpose It would look super cute if you could find a tiny pair of old-fashioned glasses and a top-hat for him to wear with his little mustache! Especially if he's involved in shows

 

[NiRD]

Gandalf has a top hat! And of course a wizard's hat.

I feed it daily, you really can't use too much. I use right about an eighth to a quarter of a teaspoon.

 

[Kiwibird]

Gandalf has a top hat! And of course a wizard's hat.

I think it goes without asking that we need to see this....

 

[NiRD]

I'm still working on getting him to keep it on for long enough to take pictures.

 

[MollytheAfricanGrey]

Handsome Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[M_A_K]

What has gandalf done that you see him as intelligent ? Crows here are often seen as pests but I'd like to know more!