Welcome to Wikimedia Commons, Ursus sapien!

-- Wikimedia Commons Welcome (talk) 22:05, 9 July 2012 (UTC)Reply

Northwestern Crows edit

Hi Ursus sapien - thanks for uploading these pics! What is the current species status of crows in the Vancouver area, please? I've read conflicting info as to whether they are American Corvus brachyrhynchos, Northwestern C. caurinus, or a hybrid mix between the two. As a result, several crow photos from this area have been placed in Category:Unidentified Corvus, including File:Corvus brachyrhynchos pulling Haliaeetus leucocephalus.jpg, File:Crows Mobbing Bald Eagle 01.jpg, 02.jpg, 03.jpg, 04.jpg, and File:Vancouver-Birds-Crow1.jpg & 2.jpg. Your input with identifying these would be greatly valued. Thanks! - MPF (talk) 13:19, 26 June 2014 (UTC)Reply

[by email from Ursus sapien] I hope this is an okay way to reply to your question about my Northwestern Crow (Corvus caurinus) photos. Feel free to use or post this reply however you wish. Let me stress that I am just an amateur birder and my identification is open to correction!

My understanding is that C. caurinus is a more slender/smaller bird than C. brachyrhynchos, has a coarser call and also shows a blue sheen on the feathers. I identified this group of birds based largely on the blue sheen and their vocalisations. Also, the proximity of prefered habitat for C. caurinus around my neighbourhood (Burrard Inlet, the Fraser River, the Pitt River and the Coquitlam River are all within easy reach).

I've been interacting with the crows in my neighbourhood for about five years and have been able to track individuals and family groups based on distintive markings. Because of their familiarity with me, I get to see them close up in a variety of lighting situations and they all show a pronounced blue sheen.

That said, the crows here also show a range of sizes so it is possible or even likely that some hybridisation has occured.

Thanks! I'll check with others on BirdForum, there'll be some experts there who (I hope!) will know about current research in the area. Unless they say otherwise, I'll work on the assumption you're correct with labelling them C. caurinus. But even then, it's always worth remembering that an expert is just someone who used to be a pert ;-) they can be wrong too . . . MPF (talk) 23:20, 26 June 2014 (UTC)Reply

ID of File:Plantaginaceae (veronica).jpg edit

Hi Ursus sapien, Assuming that the above photograph is from British Columbia I tentatively assigned it to Category:Veronica filiformis, and because of the accompanying chickweed, also to Category:Stellaria media. --Robert Flogaus-Faust (talk) 10:34, 19 October 2014 (UTC)Reply

File:Back-yard summer tilapia pond, long shot.JPG edit

 
File:Back-yard summer tilapia pond, long shot.JPG has been listed at Commons:Deletion requests so that the community can discuss whether it should be kept or not. We would appreciate it if you could go to voice your opinion about this at its entry.

If you created this file, please note that the fact that it has been proposed for deletion does not necessarily mean that we do not value your kind contribution. It simply means that one person believes that there is some specific problem with it, such as a copyright issue. Please see Commons:But it's my own work! for a guide on how to address these issues.

Please remember to respond to and – if appropriate – contradict the arguments supporting deletion. Arguments which focus on the nominator will not affect the result of the nomination. Thank you!

Castillo blanco (talk) 13:10, 20 December 2018 (UTC)Reply