Anything but Common: The Hidden Life of the American Crow

1)  the crows here (pa) seem very healthy plus we feed them suet.  no evidence of a foot disease--but wasn't really looking;   west nile seemingly had little to no effect to my knowledge.   2)  no obvious aggression other than with raptors or a grey squirrel to two.  they seem very familial toward each other.

1.  They all seem healthy to me.   I haven't noticed (or looked for) and foot missing.  I don't know how the virus effected my current area.  I wasn't living here at the time. 2.  No aggression noticed between them, just harrassing other raptors.

The crows around here appear healthy.  I have not seen sick crows, though I have seen others sick.  I now realize how familiar I am with the crows around our house.  They must be a family.  Though I’ve seen them chase the red tail and others, I’ve never seen them be aggressive to one another.  But, now with this course, I have more to watch for and more to look forward to!

1.  The crows I observe in my neighborhood of the UAE do appear healthy, despite diets of an apparently higher-than-average proportion of leftover junk food.  I have introduced peanuts, and although it is obviously not their favorite food here (Eggs and french fries are!) they are cleaning the ledge of the peanuts more quickly now than before.  Looking more closely for it, I noticed one case of swollen foot on a visiting crow the other day, but I have never noticed limping crows before.  In contrast to the healthy and sleek appearance of the crows that visit my ledge, I have noticed some rock pigeons with avian pox.   2.  I have seen/heard crows fighting on two or three occasions, over the course of 12 years here.  I would guess these were due to territorial disputes.  I remember someone in a neighboring apartment dumping water on some crows to break up a fight.  Crows tend to have a bad reputation here as in other countries.  ... However, this crow made the local news because other crows had been seen feeding it and keeping it company while it was injured.  It was welcome good publicity for urban crows in the UAE because past articles depict them only as villains and invasive pests.

I have not notice any crows missing a foot in my area.  No fights either.

I have seen some crows with tumour-like growths around their eyes and on their feet. But it didnt seem to affect their behaviour (they were still assertive around other  crows when going for food). i visit a group of crows several times a week, and have done for several years. Some of the crows i know are the same as i can recognize unique physical or vocal characteristics. I have seen them to be largely cooperative with each other. Occasionally they will get in a spat, the worst of which is usually one crow getting briefly pinned to the ground by another crow, screeching like hell to get out. After one such episode, 3 other birds from the flock actually took chase to the aggressor bird and flew after him for quite a distance away.  Another time, the victim bird was quite upset after having been pinned for several seconds. He flew away to a log, where another crow  flew right up next to him, almost nuzzled him, and sat close in silence for a long time (probably 10 minutes).  It was as if he were providing him comfort.

answering question # 1, I feed crows in our yard, I have tried to see how they are doing, I have not seen any foot problems. I did see the crows already at the feed chase off another crow. I haven't been able to discover anything else with the crows.

1. The crows in my area do appear to be healthy.Personally, I have not seen evidence of West Nile Virus, but have been made aware through a wildlife rescue that Avian Bird Flu is highly contagious and on the rise in our area. 2. I have not witnessed agression between crows. The group I observe is a family group that is often times hanging out together and running off a red tail hawk that lives in the area.

I have never seen  a serious fight between crows , although i have seen American crows drive away Fish crows . When I see crows flying high and being quiet , they often turn out o be Fish crows .

Crows now appear to b healthy in my area of sSt. Louis , MO. Some years ago, when WNV was around , I saw crows that looked very sick . sSome staggered, some allowed people to come too close , some appeared to be blind . I saw some carcasse. There were far fewer crows . At the same time I noticed that groups of Fish crows replaced them.

1. I have not seen any evidence of foot disease or the impacts of WNV on the crows. 2. I have also not witnessed any aggression between crows. They appear to be cooperative with each other.

That was really interesting.  Years ago, a crow would visit me regularly , for peanuts and peanut butter. He had one foot. I always thought that he might have been attacked by a predator, or had some genetic deformity. Now, I’m pretty sure that disease was the reason that he lost his foot!  He continued to visit me for a couple of years. Then, one day he was gone. I never saw him again. I’ve never seen aggression as it was described, but that “un-banded female” was pretty wild!  

This past spring, there was a crow on my back lawn sitting, chest to ground. When he got up to fly away, I saw his right leg was dangling useless. I watched to see if I should try and catch him and take him to the vet college, but he flew off, no problem with his wings at least. Over the next number of days, I saw him on the front lawn (where I have feeders and a bird bath) being fed by an adult. I think he was a juvenile. To my relief, he gradually started to use the bad leg, and in the end he seemed to completely regain its use. (Although he wasn't banded, I had been watching him mostly as crippled and learned to differentiate him from the others as he gradually regained use of the leg.) The day came when he could balance well enough on the bird bath and drink (wobbling a bit), but I didn't see how he got water before then as, with only one leg in the earlier days, he couldn't balance on the bird bath. A happy ending to what might have been a tragedy (if a predator had happened along when he was resting on the ground). I had another experience once, when I drove home up my driveway and saw a group of agitated crows hopping around one on the ground. I got out and approached with a blanket. The others moved away and I picked up the injured crow (I think he may have flown into the power line above him, no other signs of injury) and put him into "convalescent care," i.e., a cat cage placed in a dark, quiet place, to let him recuperate (or not). A while later, I checked on him and he was perky, so I released him and he flew off with a loud "caw," which I chose to interpret as "thank you" (:>). It was so interesting to see the other crows sort of wringing their hands (or wings), not sure what to do about him on the ground but standing watch until help (moi!) came along. Bird watching is so rewarding.

The crows in my area appear very healthy.  I haven't seen any evidence of foot disease, but then I haven't been paying attention to crow's feet lately.  I intend to start looking at their feet from now on.  I haven't notice any aggressive behavior between American Crows.  In fact quite the opposite.  They congregate in big roosts and treat each other with kindness and respect.  I call out to them when I pass/walk underneath them on the sidewalk.  They are sitting on a  high, and long extended telephone wire above me.  They watch me and they answer back with their loud cawing.  Sometimes over 50 birds cawing in unison.  Sounds like a beautiful choir from God.

The crows near me do not seem to get into any fights for marking their territories and they look perfectly healthy and happy. I never seen a crow with a missing foot unless I never notice since crows adapt and live on with their lives as if they have two feet. Along aggression I would see is a bunch of crowing but even that doesn't seem to be anything serious. Next time that I see crows, I want to look even more closely if they have any missing feet and if they are starting to mark territories.

i do not remember ever seeing a crow hurt another crow, and the crows around my house appear healthy. i did see a crow/raven's leg in a parking lot once, but there were some feathers too, so it might have just been hit my a car. it might have been a magpie too, since we have a lot where we live.

It seems like these crows don't admit de-feet easily!

1. I live in a rural area, Mathews County, VA. I have been observing a crow family on my 40 acre farm since 1998. The family has always appeared healthy. Averaging 7-9 crows per year. I have not observed any dead or sick on my property. 3. I have not seen any aggression in this family. Only in winter, when a large flock will fly over, but even then, the locals seem to accept the invaders. Actually, this year, 2021, I observed a second group nesting in my area, close by.  About .75miles from the first family's nest. I can't be sure, but this appears to be budding (something I just learned from this course). This is a smaller group, consisting of 2-3 individuals, but closer to the main house. I have observed no aggression between these two groups.

I have never seen an unhealthy crow in my area, nor seen any impact of West Nile Virus. In general, the crows in my neighborhood seem to be quite friendly with one another, "talking" back and forth and flying around the street.

1.  I remember a few years ago, there was a crow that seemed "different" than the others, i.e:  not as healthy.  My memory is somewhat spotty, but I believe he had some issue with walking.  He could have been a crow with a missing foot, but I can't verify that.  I do wonder, though, has any crow ever lost both feet?  It seems odd that all instances show these crows with only one injured foot, but might there be some instances where a crow actually has an injury to both feet, and what are the consequences?  To my knowledge, I do not know whether West Nile Virus had a significant impact on the crow population where I live.  I find it interesting that crows can actually attack other crows or other birds.  I thought their bill wasn't the right "equipment" for doing such damage as they are primarily scavengers and clean up other animals' messes.  They let others do the "killing" for them, or so I thought.   2.  The crows that live behind my house (there are about eight or so of them that always seem to be together) seem to be mostly cooperative with each other.  They band together when there's an offending hawk or fox nearby and go after that predator.  I've not seen any attack other crows, but I'll be more on the lookout now!

1. The Crows I've seen around my property seem healthy, although I haven't seen them for awhile. 2. There were three Crows that used to come around. There was never any that I noticed, seemed like they were friends just hangin' out. We did have a Raven stop by last summer. That was a treat since it was the first one I had seen here in Connecticut.

1. From the little I've seen of the local crows, they do appear healthy. I haven't seen any evidence of foot disease, and I have no knowledge about the impact of West Nile. Over the years I've been birding, I have seen several gulls with a missing leg and they seem to have no trouble getting food or getting around on the ground (they hop). I can't speak to how successful (nor not) gulls missing a leg might be. 2. The crows that I've seen have been generally cooperative, but I haven't paid as much attention to them during the breeding season as I do to other songbirds (the ones at my feeders, which does not include crows).

2. Most of the crows I have seen are generally cooperating together, and can sometimes be aggressive towards other species. I think on a few occasions I have seen acts of aggression between crows but cannot think of any specific examples at the time.