Dwayne preening another crow (Corvus corone affection)
Channel: The Scientist Djigr
Date: 24/01/2021

The named crow Dwayne has been seen preening another crow, "Queue mouchetée".
These last weeks, Queue mouchetée has been seen guarding Dwayne, chasing crows that approach him when he eats.
Allopreening (the act of preening another bird) is common in birds. It is used pragmatically to rid a conspecific from parasites, but also to strengthen bonds.
It should be noted that Dwayne is a very young crow which has never yet bred (probably born in spring 2019). However, he has strong territory claims. Another crow, W099 (older widow crow since spring 2020) was seen defending the same territory in autumn 2020, and was also seen preening Dwayne. They looked like a soon-to-be-established couple, until Queue mouchetée came by. This one is more aggressive than W099, and seems to have replaced W099's role during december 2020.
At the moment of this video (january 2021), W099 is almost never seen with Dwayne, while Queue mouchetée is almost always with him.
It is highly probable that Dwayne will start to breed next spring (2021), and his choice of mate may be set on Queue mouchetée rather than W099.