[Birdtalk] Crow Ruminations

[B.G. Sloan]

You shouldn't wish for too many crows, though...they can overrun a town.

Danville, IL (pop. 35,000) is a regular winter destination for crows. One year in the late 1990s there were 250,000 crows wintering there!

Bernie Sloan

--- On Thu, 1/8/09, Bryant Olsen <bryant_olsen at yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: Bryant Olsen <bryant_olsen at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [Birdtalk] Crow Ruminations
> To: "Kristin Purdy" <kristinpurdy at comcast.net>
> Cc: birdtalk at utahbirds.org
> Date: Thursday, January 8, 2009, 11:38 AM
> In the winter of 2002-03 I was spending a lot of time in
> Ogden, and I noticed all the Crow there, which just a few
> years earlier I would only see on the Idaho-Wyoming border
> area in Utah, and occasionally a few in the winter. A few
> years after that, maybe 2004, I started seeing them in the
> Bountiful area, particularly around the cemetery, and in
> just the past few years, maybe since 2006, the have become
> regular, Year round residence in Salt Lake Co., especially
> around Liberty and Sugarhouse Parks. The only reason I can
> see that they are doing so well in Weber Co. is maybe that
> they still have a lot of farm land, which the Crows feed in,
> where as in Salt Lake they seem to only be found around
> Large Parks, which are few in number. It's been very
> interesting watching them adapt and expand their range over
> the years and just give them so more time and I bet they
> will be all over the Salt Lake valley.
> Good Birding
> Bryant Olsen
> 
> --- On Wed, 1/7/09, Kristin Purdy
> <kristinpurdy at comcast.net> wrote:
> From: Kristin Purdy <kristinpurdy at comcast.net>
> Subject: [Birdtalk] Crow Ruminations
> To: "Bird Talk" <birdtalk at utahbirds.org>
> Date: Wednesday, January 7, 2009, 9:39 PM
> 
> What a difference two counties make!
> 
> This morning, I was at the corner of 4th South and 6th East
> in Salt Lake City
> when I heard and saw an American Crow calling from a
> treetop. In Salt Lake
> County, this bird seems to be a minor celebrity and is
> post-worthy. Contrast
> that with my experience on South Harrison Blvd in Ogden,
> Weber County, yesterday
> afternoon at about 5:00. I was watching the sky to the west
> and saw a flock of
> crows take to the air and head southeast, their usual
> direction in the late
> afternoon in winter. The birds became so numerous that I
> had to resort to CBC
> counting techniques--count ten, then estimate the number of
> tens. I figured the
> flock numbered 400-500 birds--not an unusual sight for
> Weber County, and not at
> all post-worthy.
> 
> I sure don't know why American Crows have taken such a
> hold in Weber County
> (first nest was only reported in 1998) while their numbers
> remain so low just
> two counties south. Anybody know? And while you're at
> it, anybody know what
> a flock of 500 crows eats every day to sustain them through
> the winter?!?
> 
> Kris 
> 
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