• 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.
    • Alicia
      Participant
      Chirps: 24
      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.
    • Diana
      Participant
      Chirps: 6
      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!  
    • Daphne
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      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.
    • Jeanne
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      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.
    • Alanna
      Participant
      Chirps: 15
      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.
    • Lily
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      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.
    • G
      Participant
      Chirps: 6
      It seems like these crows don't admit de-feet easily!
    • Mark
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      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.
    • Amy
      Participant
      Chirps: 7
      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.
    • Elaine
      Participant
      Chirps: 9
      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!
    • Bill
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      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. American Crow_2068Raven, Tolland, CTWe did have a Raven stop by last summer. That was a treat since it was the first one I had seen here in Connecticut.
      • Marvelous pics, Bill.
      • Helen
        Participant
        Chirps: 3
        Nice pic.  Thanks to this class I can identify by those lovely long neck feathers:-)
    • Ellen
      Participant
      Chirps: 10
      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.
    • alice
      Participant
      Chirps: 14
      `1.  Crows have just recently made a regular appearance to my home - so i am not sure about West Nile Virus impact on the area or perhaps the lacking of crows was a result of that?  I do not have a reference point - except that crows are now regular visitors to my home when a few years ago they were not..though i have seen crows over the years on other nearby points on the lake our home is located. 2. The crows i have come to know seem healthy and well, i will be looking out for any aggression - i have never seen infighting.
    • MADELINE
      Participant
      Chirps: 4
      I've only seen cooperative behaviors, except for some deference about who takes food first. I thought one crow had a broken beak -- the lower half drooped and it disappeared in the winter. But its impressive that when a hawk is around, especially in nesting season, out little bouquet call up allies and about 30 arrive very fast to mob the hawk, including dive-bombing it.
    • Sallie
      Participant
      Chirps: 11
      As a point, I read the "caution" about the video and chose not to watch it.  Reading the description was difficult enough.  I have a very active imagination so decided to forgo the video.  I don't want to see "Crows" as anything but "interesting, intelligent" birds.  I'm glad you put the "caution" there. I've never seen any Crow who looked like it was anything but a healthy Crow in my local area.  I've also not seen any aggression between the Crows in my area.  That was a very disturbing story, both about losing the foot and the "murder" of Crow on Crow.  The one more positive note was that the Crows who lost a foot were able to survive and move on with their life.
    • Wendy
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      I thought this section was very interesting and maybe... MAYBE why they inherited the hated name for a group of  crows ...could it be , that this behavior was witnessed by Europeans hundreds of years ago and hence the namesake? Unfortunate , yes...Do we know all the reasons or if a crow actually did this since it was not witnessed ? No :) Although I would suspect ,that if crows are smart enough to figure out ways to eat food when they are hungry, they would be just smart enough to know how to ‘off’ one who was in the way( whatever way that was).
    • Sue
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      The crows I’ve seen in my. backyard and the meadow behind it, in the Coconino National Forest, have sat on the roof top, on trees and on the fence watching younger birds eat.
    • Dennis
      Participant
      Chirps: 20
      About 10 years ago we had a crow with one leg coming to our yard along with a family of crows. Don't know if West Nile Virus played a role in this, or not. West Nile did not have a large presence in Mid Coast Maine that I know of. We called this crow Peg. Peg survived until about Mid Winter and then disappeared. I've observed a lot of territorial defense and skirmishing among the crows in our neighborhood, but this has always resulted in successful defense of territory with intruders backing down and leaving. The most aggressive and surprising behavior I've seen is when, one spring, a crow swooped down onto a young Grey Squirrel driving its feet into the squirrel's back, then very quickly and violently driving its beak into the back of he squirrel's head and killing it. It then proceeded to eat the squirrel.
    • Karrin
      Participant
      Chirps: 47
      I found this to be an interesting lesson. I continue to be amazed at how the lives of crows mirrors that of humans (and vice versa). As the mother of a son with special needs, I am delighted that the crows Ho lose their feet are able to be an active part of their community rather than shunned. Dr McGown has mentioned the West Nile Virus several times; I would like to hear more about it and its effects on the crow population as well.
    • Dona
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      We have a family of crows, parents and three young, who live in our area and enjoy visiting the corn we put on the ground under the feeders.  They look healthy and are enjoyable to watch.  Haven't seen any aggression among them.
    • Brenda
      Participant
      Chirps: 4
      This was horrible.  I could have done without this.  Don't include things like this anymore.  I would not want to pay for this horror ever again.
      • Hello Brenda,   Thanks for the feedback. We know that the scientific details about what happened in this lesson topic bother some folks so we included a warning of before the video starts that one can skip that video if they are sensitive to a topic like this. For scientists, animal behaviorists, and future and current ornithologists this is an important part of crow biology and we need to study all aspects of biology when we are aiming to understand and help conserve ecosystems and understand social dynamics of birds. Our courses typically include a warning before anything that might be disturbing or sensitive. Feel free to skip those sections.
    • Catharine
      Participant
      Chirps: 4
      I do not often have crows come to my yard, but last year, in the late summer, a group of 3 showed up, I believe it must have been a mother, father and child, as they hung around our compost heap and were feeding the (very large) younger bird from it.  It was very interesting to me, as I had never witnessed crow family behavior like this.  Most of the time when I see crows, they are either flying in a large flock overhead, or I will see a few at a time, hanging out in the trees in the neighborhood, often on trash pickup day, seemingly talking to each other, and perhaps foraging for food.
    • Diane
      Participant
      Chirps: 6
      1. Yes, crows are in my area. I live in North Georgia. I have not spent much time observing crows. Growing up in the South I was always told they were a nuisance. But I will be observing them more now and enjoying learning more about them.