Date: 1/6/25 8:30 am From: \King, CC\ (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: RE: [External] Re: Large crow flock
Similar to Greensboro, we saw a large group of crows (couple thousand?) in Mebane at the WalMart shopping center next to I-40/85 multimple times in December when we went there. Have photos/video if anyone interested. Sent video to Susan already. - CC
From: <carolinabirds-request...> <carolinabirds-request...> On Behalf Of Elizabeth Link
Sent: Monday, January 6, 2025 10:19 AM
To: John Connors <jconnorsbird...>
Cc: Nate Dias <offshorebirder...>; CarolinaBirds <carolinabirds...>; Susan Campbell <susan...>
Subject: [External] Re: Large crow flock
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Here in Greensboro we have an annual winter crow roost, usually on the west side of town, although there is usually a smaller one downtown. You can see groups of crows streaming to the west at dusk, and judging by the calls heard they are a mix of American Crow and Fish Crow, mostly Fish Crow. This year I found the roost in the area of an I-40 exit near Costco. My guess is a couple of thousand birds - every tree in sight was full of them and they were lined up along the top of buildings.
The downtown roost tends to be smaller - hundreds rather than thousands - and has only been gathering for the last 10 years or so, in trees lining the main streets. They have caused an outcry among business owners downtown, who complain to the City about the large amount of bird droppings left on the sidewalk and worry that their customers will get pooped on when coming and going from their business.
Elizabeth Link
On Mon, Jan 6, 2025 at 9:58 AM John Connors <carolinabirds...><mailto:<carolinabirds...>> wrote:
I grew up on Long Island and years ago when I used to do the Christmas Bird Count in Northern Nassau County there was a large American Crow roost in a planted grove of evergreens on what had been the Frick Estate...one of the old wealthy family retreats on the 'gold coast' of Long Island. There were perhaps 1000 crows roosting there each night in winter. The grove became a hunting ground for a pair of Great Horned Owl and at winter's end I remember collecting dozens of pellets under one tree in the grove and of the five pellets I dissected, each had feathers, bones and skulls of some hapless sleeping crow stolen from its perch during the night. It's no wonder crows harass owls during the day and at their nests.
JC
We see it with regularity along the SC coast. Roosts of 40,000+ Fish Crows are a nightly occurrence in the ACE Basin - we have had them on the ACE Basin CBC roosting on a wooded island near the Bear Island bridge and other field parties have had them on the Edisto River side of Bear Island WMA. And Rat Island near Charleston Harbor used to have 5-figure Fish Crow roosts regularly (before a tree die-off). Plus other examples.
This time of year long "flows" of Fish Crows can often be observed at dusk flying down the Ashley and Cooper Rivers towards Charleston Harbor. And flying down the Santee River heading towards the Delta. I have also seen them flying down the Savannah River at dusk.
These roost sites move around and are ephemeral - presumably due to disturbance, predator activity, etc.
"These days I prefer to hunt with a camera. A good photograph demands more skill from the hunter, better nerves and more patience than the rifle shot." -- Bror Blixen
On Sun, Jan 5, 2025 at 9:34 PM Susan Campbell <susan...><mailto:<susan...>> wrote:
All,
Today Steve and I had a fun and satisfying day birding in the Wilmington area. The weather was good and the birds were very cooperative! The big highlight was getting not only all three Scoter species but also Common Eider, Long-tailed and Harlequin Duck! I never thought that could happen in NC on the same day!
On the way back home, at dusk, we had a very unexpected observation. Just after crossing the Sampson County line on I40, a flock of black birds appeared in front of us. They were flying in a wide ribbon; just like flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds or Grackles are known to do. But we quickly realized the birds were not blackbirds but, amazingly, crows. Initially I thought it was likely they were migrating Fish Crows but now realize they may have been Americans-- or even been a mix of the two. They were clearly heading to roost and are known to roost apart or together during the cooler months.
The flock was easily 5,000 birds in size. The ribbon was stretched out over about a mile of the interstate. There is plenty of swampy habitat there that the birds may have been headed to. But, reviewing maps of the area, do not see a particular geographic feature that might indicate their destination.
So--- has anyone else experienced such a large aggregation of crows in the Carolinas?
Susan Campbell
Apex, NC
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