So what's with all the crows?

Before I get into tonight's post on the large number of crows populating the neighborhood, an explanation about the photograph above. The pine cone owls were made by Heather Bascom for the charming wreaths she assembled and sold at Bowood Farms the weekend of the Window Walk event. Since the wreaths were snapped up within a few days, I did not post a story about Heather, a CWE native who grew up on Pershing Place. Searching through my archives of photos for something related to crows and coming up empty, I thought I would use this as the intro photo to tonight's post. While definitely not crows, these owls are pretty cute!

There was lots of interest and related comment following my post about the Red-Tailed Hawk last week. On the strength of that, I seem to have become the "go-to" girl for bird-related questions. Central West End resident and longtime friend Ellie Chapman sent the following this morning about crows, a noisy bunch of neighbors to be sure...

"What's with all the crows flying around the CWE? We watch them flying by the hundreds morning and night. Last night they were chasing one of "our" hawks. They seem to choose a new roosting spot every night."

To get the answer I went to the appropriate authority on the subject and emailed Martin Schweig, and this is his very interesting reply:

"In the fall, after the nesting and raising of their young is over, crows start gathering in increasingly large flocks. This social behavior seems to have great survival value over trying to make it alone. During the daylight hours the flocks seem to disperse to the city outskirts (Ladue, Chesterfield etc.) to feed and then in the evening they return to the city where there are lots of tall trees and it is warmer. (Here they also unload their meals from earlier in the day). There is a lot more light in the city so they can move about all evening long. They do not seem to need 8 hours of sleep every night. In the early spring, they start to pair off, look for nesting sites and abandon the flocks."

Another source, also interested in the large crow population flying about the neighborhood advises that he spent some time estimating their numbers during a recent outing in Forest Park. On this day, at least, he observed three distinct groups of several hundred each.

A final tidbit on crows: According to Wikipedia, a "flock" of crows can also be called a "murder."

Comments

[Ellen]

Not long ago we had almost lost the crows due to a mosquito borne disease. I missed the sound of the crows. I didn't hear one for two years. Every night I leave Bowood Farms I watch the gathering of crows and enjoy seeing them. See the link below for more info!
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/06/060606-crows.html

Ellen

[shannon]

You wouldn't miss the crows if you had to park your car on the street like I do. It's absolutely disgusting.