Date: 1/25/26 8:29 am From: Adam Fasciolo via CTBirds <ctbirds...> Subject: [CT Birds] Re: 100’s of Crows Waterbury
Continuing this very interesting topic on Crows in Connecticut.
Yesterday, Saturday January 24th, while driving through Waterbury on Route 8 at approximately 5PM, my wife Jo and I could see hundreds of Crows in the sky. A conservative estimate would be 300. But it could have been upwards of 500.
It would be interesting at some point to set up a viewing with binoculars a/o scopes one day to try and get a better viewing of exactly where they’re coming from and also if the flock is just one (American Crow?) species.
Adam Fasciolo
Norwalk, CT
> On Jan 9, 2026, at 9:59 AM, Tom Baptist via CTBirds <ctbirds...> wrote:
>
> The history of winter crow roosts in Connecticut is fascinating.
> Connecticut Birds (Zeranski & Baptist 1990) cites an article published in
> Bird-Lore in 1933 that listed winter crow roosts in five Connecticut
> counties, the largest roost being in Hartford of 50,000 birds and indicated
> that that roost was "known to exist for at least 100 years". Believing
> that crows were significant predators of eggs and young of waterfowl, song
> and insectivorous birds, the Connecticut Board of Fisheries and Game
> embarked on a campaign in the winter of 1932-33 to eradicate crows at their
> winter roosts and approximately 1,000 birds were shot that winter before
> the effort was abandoned. The crows simply dispersed to form new roosts,
> "thus outrunning the men performing the killing."
>
>> On Tue, Jan 6, 2026 at 12:58 PM Folsom-O'Keefe, Corrie via CTBirds <
>> <ctbirds...> wrote:
>>
>> In the winter months, when I'm driving home from the Bent of the River
>> Audubon Center, I see the birds congregating around the Rte 8/84
>> interchange. Often there is a line of birds coming from Northeast and I'm
>> pretty sure the birds that fly over my house in Cheshire in the morning and
>> early evening are coming and going from this roost. New Year Eve, I was
>> headed home from a gathering north of Waterbury. It was snowing,
>> thundering, and lighting. As we drove through Waterbury, a flash of
>> lighting startled the crows and they took to the air. Snow, orange
>> illuminated skies, and crow everywhere. It was quite the sight.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Corrie Folsom-O'Keefe
>>
>> Cheshire, CT
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: C. S. Wood via CTBirds <ctbirds...>
>> Sent: Tuesday, January 6, 2026 11:48 AM
>> To: Frank Mantlik <mantlik...>
>> Cc: Birds CT <ctbirds...>
>> Subject: [CT Birds] Re: 100’s of Crows Waterbury
>>
>> There has been a crow roost in Waterbury for at least 40 years. It has
>> apparently relocated from the northern part of the city to the area
>> around the Rt 8/Rt 84 interchange. I just noticed it recently, but I do
>> not travel that way in the evening as often these days so I don’t know
>> how long it has been there.
>>
>> Chris Wood
>> Woodbury, CT
>> 203 558-0654
>> [1]C.S. Wood Photo Sampler
>>
>> On Jan 5, 2026, at 11:23 PM, Frank Mantlik via CTBirds
>> <ctbirds...> wrote:
>>
>> Hello Ian,
>> I remember the Norwalk crow roost well. I no longer live in Norwalk, so
>> the fact that the evening roost no longer exists is news to me. Perhaps
>> those crows are now flying all the way to Waterbury, or even West
>> Haven.
>> Frank Mantlik
>> Stratford
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Jan 5, 2026, at 10:32 PM, Ian Devlin via CTBirds
>> <ctbirds...> wrote:
>>
>> 4:30pm
>>
>> Waterbury by Route 8
>>
>> Hundreds of crows flocking to roost for the night in treetops along
>> RT 8 by Waterbury.
>>
>> I used to see this reliably and all the time in the evening between
>> Exit 15 I-95/Route 7 Connector to DMV back in the 1980’s into the
>> 1990’s. If not hundreds of crows, then at least thousands of them.
>> No more. Does anyone else remember this phenomenon there and then?
>>
>> Capt. Ian Devlin
>>
>> Norwalk, CT.
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
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>> References
>>
>> 1.
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/cswood-photos/albums/72157710313935571/ >>
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>
>
> --
> Tom Baptist
> 19 Brookside Court
> East Hampton, CT 06424
> (203) 979-6800
>
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