Nature Note #154: Shadow Flight (Part I)
As the countdown to the first snowfall begins in earnest, another flurry is happening in our skies every night. As the light leaves pastels of pink and purple along the horizon, American (Corvus brachyrhynchos) and Fish Crows (C. ossifragus) have started their nightly journeys across the sky.
Here in Syracuse, you usually see them as you travel home from work while waiting for the lights to change. Huge crowds heading over route 690 to some place beyond where they spend the night in great roosts, clustered together amidst the encroaching city.
Why they cluster together like this during the winter is a bit of a mystery. Some hypotheses suggest that it could be a means for crows to gather information about potential food sources in the surrounding areas, while others suspect it has something to do with safety in numbers. Either way, such a huge gathering of these black birds seems ominous and sinister. After all, throughout history, crows and their cousins, the ravens have always been regarded as having some sort of darker element to them.
They can also be a problem in a modern sense as well. So many birds collecting in one place means that they are sure to cause complaints about noise and health risks. As carriers of the West Nile Virus, they can pose a potential health threat to people, but the likelihood of transmission is low as the virus is carried by the mosquitoes that feed on the crows blood. Personally, I would be more worried about the bugs than the birds.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the crows roosting behavior is that they are roosting closer and closer to cities. While reliable data is hard to come by, I've been trying to find the location of a nearby crow roost so I can go see it. It has been my dream for several years after hearing descriptions of them in the PBS documentary, A Murder of Crows and in Lyanda Lynn Haupt's book, Crow Planet. While witnessing a thriving, flapping mass of jet black birds cawing raucously isn't everyone's cup of tea, I would love to see one up close.
Hopefully, I will get a chance this week. I have a day off midweek and I will be curious to see if the one near Syracuse University is still active. According to a website written by Dr. Kevin J. McGown of Cornell University, there was one in Auburn, NY and at the aforementioned SU roost as of 2010, so it's plausible that they are still massing there. Only when I check it out myself will I know for sure.
Until then, I hope to capture some film or photos of the flocks as they pass over the next few evenings. It would be nice to share what I'm seeing up here. Until then, stay tuned...
Here in Syracuse, you usually see them as you travel home from work while waiting for the lights to change. Huge crowds heading over route 690 to some place beyond where they spend the night in great roosts, clustered together amidst the encroaching city.
Why they cluster together like this during the winter is a bit of a mystery. Some hypotheses suggest that it could be a means for crows to gather information about potential food sources in the surrounding areas, while others suspect it has something to do with safety in numbers. Either way, such a huge gathering of these black birds seems ominous and sinister. After all, throughout history, crows and their cousins, the ravens have always been regarded as having some sort of darker element to them.
They can also be a problem in a modern sense as well. So many birds collecting in one place means that they are sure to cause complaints about noise and health risks. As carriers of the West Nile Virus, they can pose a potential health threat to people, but the likelihood of transmission is low as the virus is carried by the mosquitoes that feed on the crows blood. Personally, I would be more worried about the bugs than the birds.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the crows roosting behavior is that they are roosting closer and closer to cities. While reliable data is hard to come by, I've been trying to find the location of a nearby crow roost so I can go see it. It has been my dream for several years after hearing descriptions of them in the PBS documentary, A Murder of Crows and in Lyanda Lynn Haupt's book, Crow Planet. While witnessing a thriving, flapping mass of jet black birds cawing raucously isn't everyone's cup of tea, I would love to see one up close.
Hopefully, I will get a chance this week. I have a day off midweek and I will be curious to see if the one near Syracuse University is still active. According to a website written by Dr. Kevin J. McGown of Cornell University, there was one in Auburn, NY and at the aforementioned SU roost as of 2010, so it's plausible that they are still massing there. Only when I check it out myself will I know for sure.
Until then, I hope to capture some film or photos of the flocks as they pass over the next few evenings. It would be nice to share what I'm seeing up here. Until then, stay tuned...
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