Category Archives: Crows & Ravens

Time’s Running Out: Where Are The Crows?

Bird Behavior, Crows & Ravens
Crows flying to the roost at sunset near Wilkins Ave, Oct 2020 (photo by Joanne Tyzenhouse)

18 December 2023

For the past several years Claire Staples and I have counted crows for the Pittsburgh Christmas Bird Count (CBC). In a good year we count 20,000. In a bad year, 220. Stunning, isn’t it. The difference is not in the actual number of crows. It’s whether we can find them.

Please help. Let me know where you see crows overnight or after sunset, especially next week (after Christmas)!

You would think that 20,000 crows would be hard to miss but in late December they get tricky. Just before the CBC the crows change their roost several times or they split the roost and, suddenly, we can’t find half of them.

Several of you responded to Why Do 1000’s of Crows Roost in Town? with dates and locations. Your reports helped me figure out the crows moved on 11 December.

  • Dec 10: Up until Dec 11 Tom saw them roosting near the VA Hospital in Oakland.
  • Dec 11: Jeff Cieslak saw 1000s flying over the North Side parallel to Allegheny River, heading upstream.
  • Dec 12: I counted 4,000 flying west-southwest over Schenley Park’s golf course at dusk. Where were they going?
  • Dec 13: Sue Faust reported them hanging out on the North Side and flying over the Strip District at dusk.
  • Dec 16: Carol Steytler counted as many as 10,000 roosting upstream of the 16th Street Bridge across from Heinz Lofts (across the river?).
Twilight over the Allegheny River at Pittsburgh. Crows swirl near Heinz chimneys, 6 Feb 2021, 5:50pm, taken at 25th St (photo by Kate St. John)

Carol’s 16 December sighting matches a roost they used back in February 2021 (photo above) but they didn’t stay there long and I fear they won’t stay now. And this is only half of them.

Where will the crows be 12 days from now?

I know I’m going to miss their next move because I’ll be out of town December 21-28. Your help is really crucial. Please let me know where you see crows overnight or after sunset. Let me know where you see a big flock swirling. Claire & I also need to find a good vantage point for counting them.

Fingers crossed that we’ll successfully count the crows on Saturday 30 December.

Why Do 1000’s of Crows Roost in Town?

Bird Behavior, Crows & Ravens
Three American crows (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

10 December 2023

When 20,000 crows come to Pittsburgh for the winter, they have to sleep somewhere and they inevitably make a mess. Why do they roost near us where the mess will get on our nerves? Why don’t they sleep in the woods? Let’s take a look the reasons crows choose one location over another when it’s time to sleep.

Crows have a few simple requirements for a roost and they all have to come together at the same place. Safety is a big one. Crows want:

  1. Tall trees for roosting
  2. Warmth when it’s cold
  3. No great horned owls!
  4. Safety in numbers
  5. Night lights. Lots of them.
  6. White noise at the roost
  7. No harassment from humans

1. Tall trees for roosting: Crows prefer to roost at the very top of mature trees. They perch on the highest twigs that support their weight.

Crows coming to the roost, Pittsburgh, 2017 (photo by Sharon Leadbitter)

2. Warmth when it’s cold: When the weather is well below freezing trees are too exposed for a good night’s sleep so crows may choose rooftops instead. Cities are warmer than the surrounding countryside due to the urban heat island effect.

Crows on the roof (photo courtesy Crows’ Call at University of Washington, Bothnell)

3. No great horned owls! Crows are terrified of great horned owls who can hunt them in the dark. They prefer places that great horned owls avoid.

Great horned owl (photo by Alan Wolf via Flickr, CC license)

4. Safety in numbers: Crows sleep in a crowd so that someone’s always awake to watch for owls. It also lowers the odds of an individual being eaten.

Crows asleep near Heinz Chapel by the light of the Supermoon, Dec 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)

5. Night lights. Lots of them: Crows like to sleep with the lights on. It’s easier to watch for owls when you can see them coming. There are no nightlights in the woods.

Crows in a tree on Thackeray Ave, Pittsburgh, 2011 (photo by Peter Bell)

6. White noise at the roost: In addition to night lights, crows want white noise at the roost(*), the sound of running water or traffic. This location along Fifth Avenue at the University of Pittsburgh combines all their requirements in one place. Except that the mess bothers humans.

Crows roosting along Fifth Avenue in the trees at Pitt, Dec 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)

7. No harassment from humans: The perfect roost is usually near humans but crows make an enormous mess that people have to clean up. When the crows wear out their welcome, people figure out ways to get them to leave. This includes loud abrupt noises such as clappers and bangers, flashing lights, and harassment by falconers’ birds.

Clappers used to disperse crows (photo courtesy Alex Toner, Univ of Pittsburgh)
screenshot from video Falconry moves the crows in Portland, OR

Now that we know what crows want at a roost we can figure out where they’re likely to be. Convincing them to leave is much easier to do before they land. 😉

(*) p.s. Why do crows want white noise when they sleep? No one has explained it but I have a theory that great horned owls avoid white noise. Owls need to hear their prey when they’re hunting and white noise makes that impossible.

Seen This Week: Rainbows and Crows

Crows & Ravens, Weather & Sky
Sky reflected on Panther Hollow Lake, Schenley Park, 8 Dec 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

9 December 2023

There were just hints of ice floating on Panther Hollow Lake yesterday morning when the water reflected blue sky and whispy clouds.

Yesterday was unusually beautiful after the tumult of hail and thunder during the Steelers game last Sunday 3 December. After the storm a double rainbow glowed in the east.

Double rainbow on 3 Dec 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

The pot of gold seemed to be on Morewood Avenue.

The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is at Morewood Avenue, 3 Dec 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

If you look closely in the double rainbow photo you can see crows flying just above the trees.

Crows have become less reliable in my neighborhood since they moved the roost about a month ago. When they came through after the storm I went out to see them, counted 3,000 and recorded a video.

Crows flying toward the roost at dusk, 3 December 2023, Shadyside, Pittsburgh (video by Kate St .John)

Only 3 WEEKS until Pittsburgh’s Christmas Bird (Crow!) Count. The crows are getting tricky. Keep me posted! Thanks to Carol S for reporting them at North Shore last night.

p.s. If the reflection in the top photo is puzzling, here’s another perspective.

Sky and bridge reflected in Panther Hollow Lake, Schenley Park, 8 Dec 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

Where Do 10,000 – 20,000 Crows Go During The Day?

Crows & Ravens
Crows burst off a building as they prepare to roost in Oakland, 4 Nov 2016 (photo by Kate St.John)
Crows preparing to roost in Oakland, 4 Nov 2016 (photo by Kate St.John)

19 November 2023

As I wrote in Trying To Move The Crows last Thursday, Pittsburgh’s winter crow flock now numbers 6,000 to 10,000 and will build to 20,000 by the end of December. Their final flight to the roost every evening is so impressive that I included a video taken from my apartment window. Annie commented, “Your video is incredible! But where do the crows go during the day? And does morning look the same as they leave?”

In the morning crows leave the roost before sunrise but not nearly in the numbers I see at dusk, probably because most of them leave when it’s too dark to see Black Birds in a Black Sky. They are tiny silhouettes in this sunrise photo.

Sunrise with crows (tiny dots) heading east, 2 Nov 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

The crows fan out in all directions and travel 6 to 50 miles one way — in stages — to find food. Flocks of 10 to 50 go to neighborhoods on trash day.

A crow on Garbage Day (photo by Joe Loong via Flickr Creative Commons license)

Photographer Sue Thompson said these crows were a day too early. It wasn’t Garbage Day yet.

Crows a day too early for Garbage Day (photo by Sue Thompson via Flickr Creative Commons license)

Some groups visit restaurants and shopping centers to explore the dumpsters.

Crows at a dumpster (photo by Edna Winti via Flickr Creative Commons license)

But for a really big feast crows go to landfills. There are at least seven large landfills within 30 miles of Pittsburgh’s crow roost. The nearest are 8-15 miles “as the crow flies.”

Landfills within 25 miles of Pittsburgh, PA (annotated Google map)

In mid-afternoon they start to head back in stages. At first there are just a few crows per flock.

Crows (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

They pause along the way in ever greater numbers as they combine into boisterous, noisy flocks. At the staging areas they meet new friends, greet neighbors, and exchange information about their day. It’s “The Bar Scene For Crows.”

Crows hanging out at a staging location (photo by Kate St. John)

The last stage is a only few blocks from the roost. Often they fly in after dark.

(video by Claire Staples, December 2018)

And the next morning they start all over again. If people rousted them from the prior night’s roost they’ll pick a new one and change the final staging area close to the new location. Crows can be flexible.

p.s. If you did not see the video taken from my apartment window at Trying To Move The Crows, check it out here:

Trying To Move The Crows

Crows & Ravens
Crows roosting at Pitt by the light of the supermoon, 1 Dec 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)

16 November 2023

Crow news this week! from Phillip Rogers:

Hi all! There are hundreds (probably thousands?) of crows that roost every night outside the Cathedral of Learning at Pitt. Coming in at sunrise it feels like a scene straight out of Hitchcock’s The Birds movie. This evening I saw a man (facilities or groundskeeping employee?) using loud clapping and flashing lights to try to get the birds to leave (short video below). The sidewalks all around are littered with droppings, which is presumably why they want the birds gone.

— Phillip Rogers comment to PittsBirder Chat
Pitt tries to move the crows, 13 Nov 2023 (video by Phillip Rogers)

I remembered a similar episode 10 years ago when Pitt used bird distress sounds to scare the crows. Back then it worked …

The Crows Moved

… but crows are really smart. They soon figured out the recordings are fake and promptly ignored them.

By 2020 Pitt had to change tactics. Crows don’t like sudden loud noises and flashing lights when they’re trying to sleep so they made hinged wooden clappers to scare the crows.

Clappers used to disperse crows (photo courtesy Alex Toner, Univ of Pittsburgh)

The clappers worked for a while … but crows are persistent so this week Pitt had to add flashing lights.

This tug of war with winter crows happens every year when thousands come to Pittsburgh to spend the winter. By mid-November the crows wear out their welcome in Oakland and are “encouraged” to move to other locations.

Right now there are 6,000 to 10,000 crows trying to sleep at Pitt and until they stop roosting there, I live in their flyway. This video from early Nov 2020 shows what it was like outside my apartment on 5 November.

Pittsburgh’s winter crow flock flying to the roost, 2 & 4 Nov 2020 (video by Kate St. John)

By the end of the year the crow flock will number 20,000 and the roost will have moved at least once or twice. Where will they be on 30 December when I have to count crows for the Pittsburgh Christmas Bird Count? I’ll need to find out.

(credits are in the captions)

Seen This Week: Owl, Crows and Deer

Birds of Prey, Crows & Ravens, Phenology, Trees
Eastern screech-owl, Frick Park, 7 Nov 2023 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

11 November 2023

Songbird migration is quiet now and birds, when they’re found, are in mixed species flocks.

On 7 November, Charity Kheshgi and I encountered agitated golden-crowned kinglets, tufted titmice and dark-eyed juncos but it took us a while to find what they were upset about. This red morph screech-owl was hiding above our heads in a small oak.

Golden-crowned kinglet, Frick Park, 7 Nov 2023 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

An exception to the mixed species flocking rule is our “murder” of crows. My guess is that Pittsburgh’s winter crow flock is 90% American and 10% fish crows, but who can tell? They look alike.

In late afternoon crows stage in the trees in Shadyside and Squirrel Hill, then head west at sunset. 6,000 to 10,000 pass by my building on their way to the roost.

Crows staging in Squirrel Hill just before dusk, 10 Nov 2023 (photo by Stephen Tirone)

At sunset black birds in a darkened sky are impossible to photograph but it’s another story at sunrise. Click on the photo below for a closeup of crows in the brightening sky.

Sunrise with crows, 2 Nov 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

Leaves littered the ground this week and the air was filled with the sound of leaf blowers. 🙁

Fallen red maple leaf, 7 Nov 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

Most of the trees were bare in Schenley Park by Friday 10 November.

Bare tree touched by sun, Schenley Park, 3 Nov 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Most of the trees are bare, 10 Nov 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

And finally, a reminder that the rut is still in progress and deer are crossing roads. This duo showed up at a Squirrel Hill polling place on Election Day at a place surrounded by roads. So watch out.

Deer at the polling place on Election Day, 7 Nov 2023 (photo by John via Mardi Isler)

(credits are in the captions)

How High Can An Eagle Fly? Can A Raven Follow Him?

Bird Behavior, Birds of Prey, Crows & Ravens, Musings & News
A raven harasses V, the new male bald eagle at Hays, 18 Oct 2023 (photo by Jim McCollum)

24 October 2023

On 18 October while Jim McCollum was taking photos of the Hays bald eagles a raven showed up and began to harass the new male eagle, nicknamed “V.”

10/18 – The new fella went for a fly about and got jumped by a Raven. The Raven chased him all over the sky. This guy needs to work on his fighting skills.

— Jim McCollum -> 40 Acres a.k.a. Hays Woods Enthusiasts
A raven harasses V, the new male bald eagle at Hays, 18 Oct 2023 (photo by Jim McCollum)
A raven harasses V, the new male bald eagle at Hays, 18 Oct 2023 (photo by Jim McCollum)

Jim’s photos were shared to the 40 Acres a.k.a. Hays Woods Enthusiasts Facebook group where Dave Dutzik remembered a story about crows that piqued my interest.

A little tidbit I read recently. Crows will lite on eagles backs and peck at their necks. The eagles don’t fight back just soar higher and higher until for lack of oxygen the crow passes out and falls off the eagles back. I’m not sure about the validity but it’s a good story!

— Comment by Dave Dutzik at 40 acres Facebook group

Is it a true story? Let’s look into it.

At what altitude does lack of oxygen affect birds?

Birds are the champions of high altitude and can breed and exercise (fly) at altitudes that kill humans. Some species are so well adapted to high altitude that they fly as high as a jet, over the Himalayas where humans die without supplemental oxygen. Even our North American songbirds fly high …

Migrating birds in the Caribbean(*) are mostly observed around 10,000 feet, although some are found half and some twice that high. Generally long-distance migrants seem to start out at about 5,000 feet and then progressively climb to around 20,000 feet.

— Stanford Birds: How fast and high can birds fly

(*) Migrating birds in the Caribbean = warblers!

Is lack of oxygen the reason why the crow leaves the eagle? No. The crow leaves because the eagle is no longer a threat or because the crow is tired.

How high can a crow, a raven and a bald eagle fly?

So the better question is: How high can a raven fly? Can a bald eagle follow him?

For more information see High-altitude champions: birds that live and migrate at altitude and this vintage article.

As High As A Jet

(photos by Jim McCollum)

Seen in Late September

Crows & Ravens, Phenology, Plants & Fungi
Honeybee on asters, Schenley Park, 28 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

7 October 2023

The best photos from this week have been published already (Yesterday at Hays Woods Bird Banding) so I’m reaching back to late September for a few of things I’ve seen.

Bees of all kinds are attracted to deep purple asters beside the Westinghouse Memorial pond in Schenley Park. The honeybee, above, is hard to see near the flower’s orange center.

At Duck Hollow, yellow jewelweed still has flowers as well as fat seed pods. Try to pull one of the pods from the stem and see what happens.

Yellow jewelweed flower and seeds, Duck Hollow, 26 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

On 28 September I explored the slag heap flats near Swisshelm Park where (I think) solar arrays will be installed. Because the slag is porous the flats are a dry grass/scrub land where this shrub would have done well except that it’s been over-browsed by too many deer. It looks like bonsai.

Deer damage at the future site of solar flats, NMR Valley, 28 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

Deer overpopulation is also evident by the browse line at the edge of the flats.

Browse line at the edge of the future solar flats,NMR Valley, 28 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

On 26 September at Duck Hollow I encountered an optical illusion where Nine Mile Run empties into the Monongahela River. It looks as if this downed, waterlogged tree is damming the creek and that the water is lower on the downriver side of it. This illusion seems to be caused by the smooth water surface on one side of the log.

Optical illusion: the log is damming Nine Mile Run, 26 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

We found a tiny red centipede crossing the trail at Frick Park on 30 September …

Tiny red centipede, Frick Park, 30 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

… and a puffball mushroom outside the Dog Park.

Puffball mushroom, Frick Park, 30 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

On 27 September hundreds, if not thousands, of crows gathered at dusk near Neville Street in Shadyside before flying to the roost. I thought this would happen again the next day but they changed their plan and have not come this close again.

Hundreds of crows take off from a roof on Neville Street, 27 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

Sometimes sunrise is the most beautiful part of the day.

Sunrise at Neville Street, 28 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

These photos don’t give the impression that it’s been abnormally dry, but precipitation in Pittsburgh is down 6″ for the year. Almost 2″ of that deficit occurred in September. The Fall Color Prediction says our leaf color-change is later than usual.

(photos by Kate St. John)

The Calm Before The Crows

Crows & Ravens, Vocalizations
Fish crows at Red Hook, NY (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

30 August 2023

In August in the East End of Pittsburgh we get a taste of November dusk. It isn’t the weather or the clouds or the time of sunset. It’s a flock of more than 100 crows, a hint of the thousands to come this fall, that gather on rooftops along Neville Street before flying west to roost.

This year in early August the crows were absolutely silent but as the month progressed a few spoke out, telling me they were in a mixed flock of American and fish crows. American crows (Corvus brachyrhyncos) say “Caw.” Fish crows say a nasal “Uh-oh” (Corvus ossifragus). It’s the only reliable way to tell them apart.

American crow: “Caw Caw Caw.”

Fish Crow: Nasal “Uh oh”

video by Sayre Nature HD on YouTube

I wanted to count by species but the crows remained silent and unidentifiable through most of the month. I tried to tell them apart by sight but my focus on appearance made it impossible to count. So I stop trying. My August eBird checklists place all of them as “American crows” with an X for “Fish crows present.”

Then suddenly last Saturday they were all “talking” and about three quarters of them were fish crows. The flock continued on Sunday evening but I was too busy to count. I shouldn’t have assumed they’d be here on Monday. They were gone and they haven’t been back.

The big flocks will arrive in late October, comprised of 90+% American crows.

For now we’re in the Calm Before The Crows.

p.s. eBird’s Fish Crow Weekly Abundance map shows a dot in Pittsburgh in the month of August … and then it’s gone. Watch the animation here.

(credits are in the captions)

Who’s Smarter? Raven or Crow?

Bird Behavior, Crows & Ravens
  • Common raven (photo from Wikimedia)

25 July 2023

Scientists say that the smartest animals have large brains and have become so intelligent because their lifestyles force them to solve complex ecological (ex: food, habitat) and social problems (ex: long-term social bonds that may include absences).

Ravens and crows both have large brains relative to their body size and both are good at problem solving. The Raven Diaries (@theravendiaries) takes a look at which species acts smarter and why.

video embedded from @theravendiaries on YouTube

So which one is smarter? It’s a hard call between crows and ravens.

Crows understand the concept of zero and know that 0 precedes 1, a feat that beats small humans.

Ravens were tested against chimps and came up equally intelligent: Young Ravens Rival Adult Chimps in a Big Test of General Intelligence. They were also equal if not better at “theory of mind,” the ability to imagine what others are thinking: Ravens have paranoid, abstract thoughts about other minds.

For example, this video shows two ravens guessing what the other is thinking and act accordingly.

video embedded from BBC Earth on YouTube

Kaeli Swift of Corvid Research is often asked if ravens are smarter than [you-name-it] animal. Here’s the long answer.

Are ravens smarter than a___?

(credits are in the captions)