Can We Please Form a Search Party for Canuck the Crow?

The VanMag staff moved offices about a year ago, to a building that happens to be exactly where Vancouver’s largest crow colony roosts every night, so I now consider myself intimately familiar with the ins and outs of the crow lifestyle. It is a level of intimacy I did not ask for and frankly, do not want. There’s a real Hitchcockian vibe to my commute now, but one that goes beyond merely the chilling sight of 30,000 birds (who can all remember faces, as everyone likes to remind me cheerfully when I’m complaining about this) darkening the sky at dusk, and into an all-encompassing sensory experience. If you have ever wondered what a crow might smell like, I am here to confidently tell you: not great. 

All that being said, I was still devastated to learn that Canuck the Crow, is currently MIA.

Canuck is not part of the suburban murder with whom I share a work address, but rather a cool, East Van crow who has charmed both the press and citizenry over the past few years with his antics and Disney-sidekick stylings. You no doubt remember him from such wacky antics such as stealing a knife from a crime scene and befriending a human man named Shawn Bergman, who also acts as a makeshift business manager for Canuck’s projects (like this charming mini-documentary from a few years back).

For reasons I cannot fathom, city hall has never invested in an official Vancouver mascot, but a CBC poll recently proved that we all agree that Canuck is the very best unauthorized bird for the job. (He got more votes than most of this year’s mayoral candidates.)

Canuck has been missing since August 30, and a $10,000 reward has been offered for his return. Canuck’s identifying features include black feathers, black eyes, a black beak and black talons. He is also wearing a numbered metal band on his right leg because he is a federally protected wild bird, and an orange band on his left leg because he’s got style. 

I’ll be making peace with my own crow crew to see if they have any information—I hear they never forget a face.

Anyone with information about Canuck’s whereabouts can contact canuckandi@gmail.com

Credit: Shawn Bergan/Facebook