They call a group of whales a pod. A gathering of rattlesnakes is a rhumba and a bunch of crows flocking together is a murder. Last week I witnessed a murder – a murder of crows. For much of the year, crows keep selected company, usually 3 or 4 birds together, often family members. Young crows stick around several years before leaving their parents as they help in babysitting chores. But for some reason in late fall and winter, crows ignore all the rules of social distancing and assemble in really large numbers.
That’s starting to happen right now. During the day, the crows keep their family units in order. There were the usual three in my backyard throughout the week in the morning hours, but later in the afternoon , they seek out other crows. I recently saw about 75 birds soaring overhead just north of town. In the past, I have seen hundreds and hundreds down near the old K-Mart, the sky literally filled with their vast numbers.
I suppose only crows know why they become such avid groupies in winter, maybe it’s for social reasons, or maybe it is a prelude to the spring mating and nesting season. Some say they roost in such large numbers to protect themselves from attacks of hawks, which are quite active this time of year. Crows have quite a vocabulary. If a hawk appears, crows can use any one of over 250 different calls to alert one another and help chase the hawk away.
Keep an eye out and you also can see these murdering crows, usually late in the afternoon. It reminds me a little of “Birds”, the old Hitchcock thriller. That’s why I feed crows corn in my back yard. I want to stay on their good side.