Date: 9/23/26 9:37 am From: ChicoBill via groups.io <w.e.haas2...> Subject: Re: [slocobirding] Crow behavior question
Not only normal, but important! Lots of information exchange going on, of course - things like where to roost, where the food was today and will be tomorrow, not to mention, there's not only safety in numbers, but moving in progressive waves reduces predation risk from hawks or owls (of which I'm reminded having just last night watched an adult female Cooper's Hawk harass our neighborhood AMCR pair, which she probably would not have done if they had been had been 50 or 60 in number) while obfuscating a direct line observation to the final roost site - it's also where the kids pick up (good & bad) habits! So, there is both a secondary social component - meeting up nightly with smaller groups (note that it's not always the same individuals that all depart at the same time) that allows for greater information exchange and socialization and maybe even some decision-making based on changing group information - with an added measure of security.
I highly recommend that you read "In the Company of Crows and Ravens" by John M. Marzluff and Tony Angel.
By the way, we humans often complain about traffic when visiting LA, San Diego, San Francisco...but for the American Crow, when the numbers get really large, it can be murder!
--
Bill Haas
Paso Robles
