Anything but Common: The Hidden Life of the American Crow

Lately most of the birds I see are around hotels and restaurants. While my area (Lafayette,la) south Louisiana, is still very rural and surrounded by wild life I find it very concerning that I'm able to identify not only common crows but fish crows as well that seem to stick to a diet of fast food cast offs.

It's been awhile since I lived in an urban environment and I wasn't much into birds.  But what I do remember is seeing and laughing at the crows and ravens eating at dumpsters around eating establishments.  I saw them with the little plastic ketchup cups, picking at pizza boxes and left over food containers.   People seemed to just ignore them.

I think my neighborhood is best described as urban-suburban.  It's too close to the city and too densely populated to be considered truly suburban, I think.  But there is plenty of developed green space ( I think it is 30% of the building footprint.).  The crows here build nests in the tops of tall trees, nearer the middle, as American crows do.  And they are resourceful, making use of our food waste by foraging at dumpsters and trash cans.  They seem to know certain bags and containers are likely to have food.  Some do feed birds.  Too often, however, it's a pile of dried out bread, which people are loathe to throw out. Because I live in an Islamic country, I thought it would be interesting to share how Islam might influence middle eastern attitudes toward crows.  There are a couple of mentions in the literature.  In the Koran, the crow is associated with death and mankind's first murder.  And, in the collected sayings of Muhammad, crows are listed among the five animals "for which there is no blame on the one who kills them," along with scorpions and mad dogs.  (!)  It would be hard to measure how interpretation of and regard for these sayings might actually affect attitudes -- and corvid-icide -- but there is general antipathy toward crows for more practical reasons at least, such as their territorial behavior during the breeding season, and their shenanigans at outdoor dining venues.  I, however, find even these crow behaviors interesting and endearing.  And, befriending my neighborhood crows has been a delightful project!

Many of my coworkers and friends are either indifferent to crows, or find them a nuisance, or lastly (a small percentage) see them as a bad omen of some kind. Another small percentage of friends like them, with one or two really loving them like me. As far as the public at large, they seem ambivalent except for the odd person i see feeding them, as i like to do. I am in an urban area, but am within short distance of a very rural area .  The urban birds here definitely seem to eat many poorly nutritious foods. In fact, many groups commute daily from their roosts directy to commercial plazas where they linger alll day near parking lots, dumpsters, and drive throughs. the rural area crows gather in both large and small groups as they forage in farm fields, forests, and other green lands. They are less inclined to come up when i offer almonds or cashews than their urban counterparts. ultimately, i dont concern myself too much with what others think of them, although i do try to educate people gently about how magnificent crows are, when i can. I love crows and thats good enough for me.

I feed crows in my area, peanuts hard boiled eggs, cat food, water as well. I won't be giving the crows junk food. I haven't figured out where the nest. If I come near them when they are eating they fly off, which I expected. A neighbor a few years back was shooting at the crows in a pine tree, I know this because I came outside and saw who with the pellet rifle. He knows darn well it is a crime to kill a crow. That day there was a big flock of crows in the pine tree talking, which he didn't like. I am trying to see if I can get the crows here to work a food puzzle, out to get peanuts, so far no takers. I have gotten a response with a jar full of seeds topped off with peanuts, I put a lid on top of the jar and the crow took it off and got his/her reward.

The urban crows do seem to be eating discarded food. We urban areas with established green spaces and forests, so I would guess they are nesting near those wooded areas. So far, people mostly ignore them as they have not become a nuisance in our area. Pigeons are the nuiscance birds in our area, and I wonder if that is what keeps the crows from forming large flocks in area.

I have never heard anyone except birders say something nice about crows. Most people seem unaware of them. I sometimes have seen them doing acrbatics in the air. Fascinating birds and beautiful when the sun shines on their feathers.

We live in a classic suburban area bordered by industrial area followed by farmland. There is a pair of crows that seem to call our neighbourhood home, as well as a group of three farther down by a small plaza. I sometimes will spot five flying and I imagine it is the two groups hanging out together. We see the pair basically every day and sometimes some random others. They come to the yard, fly overhead and perch in the trees in the neighbourhood. They definitely eat roadkill and take peanuts from the feeders. I do put out meat cuttings for them, scraps from chicken and beef, which they love. There is a small pond not too far, so maybe they drink there? We have a birdbath, but I have never seen them in it, though it is well used by the other birds. The pair I am most familiar with nest right in the neighbourhood. Only twice have I been able to figure out where, both times just because I'm outside a lot with my dogs and I pay attention to where they are flying. Once it was in a tall pine in someone's backyard, they successfully fledged 3 chicks that year, and this year I was very excited to track their nest (just visually!) to another back yard tree, a very large maple, just down the street from me. Unfortunately it was hit by a grey squirrel, (an incredibly chaotic scene early one morning) but they fledged one baby successfully. By and large they do not interact with people and avoid them. They don't seem afraid, but if you get too close, they'll take off, which is probably smart. I honestly don't think anyone but me even notices them, they are just part of the landscape, though extremely unpopular with farmers. I just love them, to watch them, hear them and try to figure out what they're doing and their relationships with each other. When they brought their 3 babies to the backyard one morning during covid, I honestly got tears in my eyes, it felt like such an honour. This course has been great, I've enjoyed it very much.

There are plenty of neighborhood trees in the area of Chicago in which I live. These trees, along with those in our very large city parks and cemeteries, I imagine would be good places to live and nest. I have observed crows eating both natural food sources and from partially empty fast food containers on the streets. In a previous lesson, we were discouraged from referring to flocks of crows as a murder because of the negative association this brings to them. But part of the appeal of crows for me, was this historical association with death, spirits, magic, Edgar Allan Poe, gothic connections, etc...I love their black feathers and strong bills. I would much rather watch crows than the numerous sparrows that are found in town. Crows are super cool.

I see crows in my front yard a lot. They are almost always in a small group (a family?). Before this course, I have not paid much attention to them. I will now.

I feel like we are missing a really good meme here about country boy crows and metro crows... hehe

We have never heard people talk negatively about crows.

I’ve seen crows picking through garbage in the city.  But I also see them eating road kill. I’m not sure about their water sources. I’m guessing they drink rain water puddles? Unfortunately, most people in the city seem to view crows as noisy pests, if they think about them at all.

I read that "Northwest" crows are generally smaller than other American crows in the rest of the US/Canada. Are there any hypotheses as to why that is? Geographic isolation due to the Cascade range or something environmental re: food sources. Has there been any work done in the PNW on the rural and urban differences or any work looking at some of the same parameters in NW crows vs. American crows comparing rural vs. rural for each type or urban vs. urban?

my town isn't really a city, but the crows here normally nest in any tall trees at parks, on trails, and in quieter areas. they normally eat things like trash from dumpsters, but i see them eating bugs and berries as well. they normally fly away when people approach them. people in the area don't really mind them unless they are ripping apart trash bags, because it is messy.

I work on Langley AFB, Hampton VA. where there is a healthy population of Fish Crows that nest and forage throughout the residential area of base.  A military Air Base would not be considered Rural. But then again, not exactly Urban.  More like Managed.  The Base has areas of Urbanization, Base Housing etc..... And area that could almost be considered Rural (flight line).  The Fish Crows on Langley are noticeable and not that skittish toward humans. Especially at the gas station.  I am attaching a picture of one crow that posed for me as I was filling up my car with gas. This Fish Crow was only a few feet from me standing on the gas pump and did not fly away, even after pointing my camera at him.  The people on base are tolerant of the crows.  They only become a real concern in the winter, when large flocks pass through and pose a bird strike hazard to aircraft. I have seen at least two Fish Crow nests over the past 10 years. One right next to the building where I work on power lines and the other in a live oak about 25 feet up near the hospital.

We have recently moved to the country where there are not that many crows, it seems. We live in a wooded area with mature maples, basswood, hickory, and a healthy understory. I have been feeding bird for 7 years in this location, black oil SF seed, suet, and peanuts. We have never had a crow at our feeders. I'm going to have to take some peanuts on my walk and see if I can entice them with some peanuts.

I live in a township which is more of a suburban rural area.  We have a small flock of crows here, about 150, that roost somewhere nearby. I work in the nearby city and there is a massive roost there that numbers in the thousands.  People who live nearby find their evening return fascinating. People who live under the trees that they inhabit are less than thrilled. They congregate mostly in the large old trees on the University campus and have much less fear of humans than the ones who roost in my area. You can find them in nearby parking lots or at the landfill foraging. I keep peanuts in the car just in case I meet one in the parking lot. I've been fortunate enough to have a few peanuts accepted. I live in Michigan and you are never more than a few miles from water so they are drinking from the rivers, streams and ponds around here I'm sure. There are also many people who keep bird baths, myself included, but I have not seen them use mine. Now that I know how to spot nests I see many of them around the city and township high in the deciduous trees of the area.

I live in a city (Raleigh, NC) and the crows seem to be doing well. I haven't seen large numbers at any one time, usually only 2-3 (most often hear them calling). The most I've encountered is 4, and that was during a mile-and-half walk in a local greenway (I did not encounter all 4 at the same time, but at different point during my walk). Raleigh has lots of trees, especially oaks, and the greenways are usually around creeks, so there is lots of natural food available (as well as junk food in trash cans, dumpsters and the landfill). I haven't noticed them nesting (I need to look for their nests), nor I have noticed much in the way of interactions with people. I have no idea how people around here feel about crows. I expect I'd hear a lot if we had a large roosting area.  I've also seen crows at the Outer Banks but most of those are Fish Crows. The Outer Banks also have a variety of food (both natural and junk), plenty of fresh water, and I'm sure the crows are nesting there but I don't know where. I haven't seen any these coastal crows interact with people, but I'm never there in the summer when such interactions might be more likely (lots more people who eat junk food in the summer). I've seen more interactions between gulls and people. By the way, I grew up in the Los Angeles area and crows were very rare while I was living there. Sometime long after I moved out, my mother began to comment about the number of crows appearing in the neighborhood (this was probably in the 90's when she starting noticing the crows). Don't know if it is coincidence or not, but my mother also commented that many of the smaller songbirds had disappeared - Western Tanager for example. She was noticing a much smaller variety of birds. The only birds that seemed to remain constant were Mourning Doves and House Sparrows.

I live in a lakeside area that is close to a 4 lane highway with some strip malls - like Ithaca in some ways.  The strip mall area i would call suburban crows while closer to the lake are borderline rural (even though there are ample homes) in the more rural area i am speaking of - there are protected areas and woods and lake water and areas where crows may live rather than in a yard next door.  If this all makes sense... i hope that it does.  Basically there is protected land parcels throughout and some vast areas for crows to live. The crows that i have recently seen at the strip mall area are ones that i always see hanging out near the dumpsters of a near by McDonalds.  They dumpster dive quite often and grab whatever garbage they can from either the dumpsters filled with product of business or smaller garbage bins filled with product of consumer consumption.  These mall-rat type of crows are loud, talkative and spend most of the day organizing scavenger activities.  They make a mess...so i am guessing most people are annoyed by this - just as they are about seagulls who do the same. Currently i believe that the group of people i know - they are not fans of crows because they are ‘loud, bossy - and can make a bigger mess of our mess’. I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL SUMMER to observe these birds again this summer when i move back! I have a friend from Ireland who HATES crows because they are the symbol of death - i never heard that before recently.  She likely wont change her knee jerk opinion of them.

I plan to pay more attention to where I see Crows in the city the next time I go there.  This was a really good course to help me understand more about Crows.  I'll return to it after the next time I have a group of Crows come to my local area. Thanks.

Thanks for a great course.  I regularly go back to the crow/raven ID quiz because they are hard to tell apart in pictures, but easier once you know what to look for irl. Urban/suburban smaller crows:  I haven't read the New Scientist feature on Ms. Heiss's work, so I don't know all the information learned from her work.  But I wonder if also crow competition had anything to do with which crows moved into the city.  As in, did smaller crows move to where there is less competition?  I'm statistic-illiterate, but the ranges among the difference indicators -- bill width, weight, calcium -- between rural and suburban crows don't rule out that the suburban crows were simply smaller to begin with and had they stayed in the rural environment, some of them still would have been that small.  Looking at it from another angle, if a cohort of larger, rural crows were moved into the city, would some of them remain large in spite of the city diet? The idea that suburban crows are adaptively smaller so that they have lower nutritional demands to me just means that they can't get the nutrition they need to grow larger.  In the scheme of things, organisms "want" to be larger because size is an advantage in competition for territory, food, mates.  That the nutritional value of food in the city is poorer than in the rural environment may be a factor in why smaller crows live in the city.  They're settling, making do.

When I see crows, it is usually by / near a dumpster where they are eating whatever they find there. I wonder if there will ever be an anti-bird device to prevent wild creatures from becoming addicted to human food, junk or otherwise?

I live in the suburbs, in Nassau County, Long Island, NY and have often seen a huge flock of crows hanging around the parking lot of Stew Leonard’s supermarket. They seem to be looking for junk food that people have dropped there. No one else but me appears to take notice of the crows.

Very interesting studies! Regarding the crows in the ‘managed’ areas, I agree that pesticides are a likely culprit.

The chart about the increase in crows' urban population gave me an "aha" moment: I don't recall ever seeing crows in the various cities I've lived in, but now in the last couple of years I've notice that I see them regularly. In particular a flock of them seems to be regularly hanging out around/over a shopping plaza in a semi-urban/semi-suburban area near me in the small city where I live (New Haven, CT). They fly into and over the area in swirls, perch on telephone wires or on top of light poles singly or in groups, and sometimes one or two or more swoop down to get a piece of pizza or other scrap in a parking lot. As a result of this class I'm getting even more enjoyment out of peering at them. I certainly notice their shapes, from the first lesson. Great course.

Very interesting research on size and biomarker differences suburban vs. rural. I live in suburban Maryland--although in an area full of wildlife with many large trees and parks of various sizes / wildness nearby. Our crows are huge! Whenever we see crows somewhere else, we comment on it: I'm not sure we've ever seen crows as large as ours anyway. (I can promise you: They are not ravens :-) ). I wonder what it is about our area that sustains this?

I've mainly had an opportunity to observe crows in my suburban neighborhood, which is close to a golf course, & also has significant undeveloped woodland and beach along Lake Erie. I have observed the classic "garbage day" binge - crows getting pizza and whatever junk food they can pry out of plastic bags. This has been less frequent now that owners have a closed recycling can and a closed garbage can (which can be loaded mechanically on the garbage truck). I do know people who feed them leftover bread, which I try to discourage them from doing when I'm telling them about crows and how great they are ... For the 2 crow families that claim our yard (1 acre) as part of their territory, they get a little suet, black sunflower seed, shelled corn in the morning. I also give them left over protein like meat, cheese & fish. Periodically fruit (cherries, blueberries, cut up apples). The suet itself is a combination of beef suet, peanuts, soy and corn.  I also leave out broken oyster shells in a garden bed - this seems to be a big hit with not only the crows, but the bluejays and squirrels. I seem to see all of them nibbling on it. I started this after I read about the bluejays pecking white paint chips from houses in the Northeast.

I look forward to when we will all be free to travel again - and will for sure watch for the crows! I am here in "suburban" seaside on Cape Cod, MA .... and have never heard any negativity about crows. people like to hear their warning cries alerting when a hawk is in the area - a good signal to look up for some interesting action. We see them feeding on lawns and at the beach, and flocking from tree to tree, but I am now alert to observe them more, as I walk about. This course made me more in tune to the seasonality of their numbers. Seeing many many more now that it is Sept.    this is image is from a tree top in my front yard, about 90 minutes before sunset. I've been observing it almost every late afternoon/eve all summer ... earlier it was most often visited by a young Robin, and also House Finches. Several nights eves ago was the first visit and long perch (about 15 minutes) by a crow, at this time of day. And the Robin has not been seen in a while.                       

Rarely see crows in NYC...but yes in SF.

Even when I lived in  New York, I never really saw them, except for in city parks

Interesting experiment and results! I wonder if part of the reason the suburban crows had higher calcium rates than the crows in the managed area is due to what's available. We as humans eat quite a bit of meat (even in Ithaca where there is probably a larger percentage of vegetarians ;) )... maybe the suburban crows have more access to animal bones, etc. in what they forage.

I am rarely in an urban area with crows, so I can't comment on the question directly.  We live in what may be considered a "sub-rural" area, with large lots (4 acre minimums due to well/septic regulations) and a combination of homes and parkland.  They eat seed, suet and nuts that fall from the feeders we provide for songbirds.  We have plenty of accessible water and we provide a small portion of the food we expect they need, so most comes from there own initiative.  No garbage or dumpsters are around for them to depend on.  They receive all out protein and fat scraps along with some white bread soaked in cooking fat or juice.  We buy low cost protein (frozen chicken livers or gizzards) and provide perhaps 3-4 oz per day.  They watch for me, call the family and arrive soon after I enter the house.  "Assured clear distance" seems to be about 150 feet.  We don't know if this feeding practice is beneficial for them.  We don't know if we should feed them at all, and if it's OK, what is the best food to provide. We have not witnessed any aggression by the neighbors (in fact one family is as fond of them as we are).  Even the predators don't seem to be a problem (a yearling Coopers hawk has been on the ground among them eating the meat scraps we offer!).

I live in a very developed suburban community in Southern California, however my immediate neighborhood is an equestrian community and therefore the homes are on large lots (by California standards) and have more open land around them.  I keep horses on my property and I often get to watch the crows going about their business as I care for my horses.  From my barn I can see them raiding the dumpster behind the restaurant across the street and then flying by with whatever they have scavenged, including pieces of meat and bread.  They often come to my horse's water troughs to drink.  Every couple months I will find a half eaten chicken leg or equivalent in a water trough complete with seasoning around the edges.  It might not be the crows dropping their dinner by accident, but they seem a likely source.    My crows also absolutely LOVE to eat my elderly horse's lunch bucket, which consists of soaked alfalfa pellets, rice bran, and beat pulp.  I try not to let them get much of this because it also contains horse medications that are probably not good for the crows, but if I turn my back for a minute the crows will take the opportunity to hop in to my horse's stall and grab a few bites.   They will also forage around in the horse manure in the paddocks, actually breaking open the balls of manure to find grubs or whatever might be in them. My neighborhood also has a lot of fruit trees in people's yards and the crows enjoy the various citrus and other fruit.  In my own yard the mandarins and pears are particular favorites of the crows.  We get a pretty good crop each year so we don't mind sharing with them.  They also forage under my bird feeders where they will find assorted things including dried meal worms and shelled sunflower seeds. There was a time last year when we would have a handful of crows under the feeder and one of them would fly up and ram his body into the feeder which would knock a bunch of food on to the ground where they could get at it.  I thought that was pretty clever!  This only went on for a couple weeks, though, and then they stopped doing this and just went back to picking up the scraps that were dropped by the house finches and blue birds. I have no idea where my crows nest, but after taking this course I am really curious and plan to go looking around the neighborhood.  We have a good number of big trees any of which are possibilities. As far as what people think about them, in my experience most suburbanites don't even notice them.  We don't live very close to the land anymore and it makes me sad that so many people are unaware of such amazing creatures living with us everyday.

I live in Stavanger Norway. Crows are much disliked and considered predators on small songbirds, especially in the city (at the same time it considered proper to allow pet cats to live mostly outside, this is called having an "utekatt" -and belling the cat is considered very cruel to the cats). Often, hunting is organised to reduce the crow numbers. The GREAT majority of people think they are destructive, dangerous and a nuisance (as well as the local much reduced and persecuted seagulls) I am very appreciative of both crows and magpies HUGE intelligence and spirit. I am often in awe of their minds and their personalities. I wish there was a way to bring a similar course to Norway! I am a member of the Norwegian ornithological Society and in touch with Martin Eggen who is doing his best to promote wild bird survival along with other members of the NOF by writing and participating in public and political discussions. I will mention this course to him and see if he has any ideas how to bring this education to the Norwegian public.   In Stavanger I often stop to watch crows in the city. They are extremely cautious and wary of people (unlike the merry jaunty magpie) but not of cars or traffic. They are often eating food scraps and unfortunately the plastic and paper and cemetery-paraffin candles and styrofoam. They have an incredible memory of food sources (me and peanuts) and their temporary stores. They usually try to wash everything in a puddle before they eat it.

Or maybe crows in urban areas are becoming smaller because there is less space and/or food for them--so smaller is an adaptive technique and they will remain smaller, rather than the idea suggested that they might grow larger as they adapt to living in urban areas.  Diet and available space definitely influence size in all living creatures (both flora and fauna) and could be contributing factors in smaller urban crows.

I am impressed by the questions, studies, and thoughts of Dr. McGowan and his associates.  It really gets me thinking!  I usually see city crows trying to get into fast food bags.  Their perseverance is strong in getting to whatever might be in the bag.

Everett Washington, 98203. This course is fabulous. Thanks! I am only three days into my crow watching and here is what I have seen.

• Our 3/4 acre home site is "wild" with gardens surrounding our home 360 degrees.
• For the past 9 years I have watched crows in our 'neighborhood' Now I know they are watching me. Cool.
• Our new (3 years) next-door neighbor puts food containers into their recycling bin, placing white containers on top.  Every week, crows  eat what there is  and consequently distribute trash from her bins all over her yard. Less than 50 feet away, crows never touch our bins. No trash on our yard. We cover the top of our bin with a pieced of brown cardboard....
• This past summer, late in the summer, a conifer on our property was used as a pre-roosting tree. After talking to each other, the flock - at least 100 birds with an excellent sunset view of Possession Sound in Puget Sound -would take off to parts unknown for their sleepover. I didn't see any eating. Just noise and jumping around.
• I haven't spotted nests yet. But my new binoculars are getting a wonderful work out.

In Oregon, I often see crows eating squirrel carrion in local streets while dodging traffing. (We have a lot of squirrels in Beaverton.) Crows walk about in lawns, parking lots and gardens searching for insects and whatever else they can find. Crows are designated "the clean-up crew" around here. We have many crows in our area and I have a particular crow family that I feed every morning. There are 8 members of a family and they wait on my patio each morning for their breakfast of wild bird seed, nuts and sometimes left-overs from dinner (chicken or pork). I have tried feeding them fruit such as strawberries or banana, but they seem to have no interest. When I go "birding" at our local nature park, there is a family of crows who wait near the ducks for hand-outs from visitors feeding the ducks. While I was in this park last summer, a crow landed on the hood of my car and pecked at my windshield for food. It was surprising and amusing at the audacity of this crow who was brave enough to land on my car and demand food! Naturally, it got its way. Crows are fascinating birds because they are intelligent and one can actually have relationships with them. They react kindly to people they like and scold those they don't like. I look forward to seeing them in my yard each morning.  

I work in the Michigan Audubon office in Okemos, MI. It is on a quiet road with several office buildings, surrounded by residential neighborhoods. The crows in this territory may be living/nesting in the tall conifers that divide the office buildings and the neighborhood. They fly around and feed all around the office buildings. Being a nature-oriented office building, we have planted bird-friendly plants all around us. I don't know what they're eating but something is keeping them around. There are tall locust trees on the road side of the office buildings. They hang out in there a lot, and do a lot of talking. When I walk my dogs out there mid-day and at the end of the day to get in my car, they are chatting up a storm, and I always assume it's about us :)

I've also seen them on Cape Cod where we live in a suburban area near a nature preserve - lots of tall pine and old trees. They forage on the beach at the high and low tide marks, especially around garbage receptacles on the "public beach" - but only when people are not nearby (unlike seagulls which hardly acknowledge humans when they are eating and foraging). I leave peanuts for them early in the morning but rarely do I catch a glimpse of them foraging the peanuts, as they wait until there are no cars in the driveway or no person in sight. Sometimes I've surprised them when by sneaking home suddenly and they raucously scream (in outrage at being disturbed?) and fly away. I've managed to get close - when there is one loner on a rooftop or telephone wire - almost below them - if I make crow sounds and the crow calls back.  They are curious. I've also seen large flocks of 30 or so on people's yards, although I don't know what they are eating there. Again, if I stop to watch, they all will fly away, calling.

In NYC, I see them on rooftops eating scraps - I've seen them eating a pigeon wing left by a red-tailed hawk, as well as pizza crust, and even dog poop -  from garbage, sometimes fighting over or playing with scraps of styrofoam or paper. People don't pay much attention to them as they are usually above the eye-line. I can see them from my apt. window on the roof of a school across the street. I can't think of when I've seen one on the ground in our neighborhood, although the scraps come from somewhere. I see what I think is a family or small flock - on top of new high-rise construction - and have seen one feeding others who seem to be begging. They seem to avoid getting too close to people, unlike the starlings, and sparrows, and even the hawks/small raptors.

Unfortunately, I am not around a city area enough to spend time watching them. I do know I've seen them drinking water from puddles on the street and that concerns me just imagining what else they are ingesting besides water!

I rarely see crows in Salt Lake City, even though the range map indicates that they should live here.  I mostly see their cousins, the black-billed magpies.  I did see a pair of ravens nesting in the rafters of the football stadium.  (I swear they were ravens, even though ravens aren’t supposed to live in the city.)  I loved watching them soar around.  I am not sure where they were finding their food.

They consume the suet I put out for the woodpeckers in my yard.

We live in a rural area and often see crows feeding on road kill.  Have noticed crows do not immediately fly off when a car approaches. In fact, they seem to be either oblivious to a car or just don't want to leave the source of food until the very last second.   Could you tell me if this behavior has increased their mortality rate?  Personally have never seen a dead crow on the side of the road but it seems they are playing a risky version of chicken.

I see crows everywhere in New Orleans. There’s a church with a tall clock tower a few blocks from where I live, and I love watching the crows sit on the tower and call. In my immediate neighborhood, they like the tallest trees and the live oaks, and I’ve seen nests in the live oaks. I do think attitudes about them are changing. I think this is at least partially due to findings about how smart they are.

When I lived in a town of a population of 10,000, crows were a common site around trash bins of shopping centers.  I do not remember seeing any nests in our neighbor and we lived beside a park. One day in July when it was above 90 degrees, hundreds of crows flew to a very large oak tree on the next street. The din of their calls was tremendous. I walked over to see what was going on.  Several birds were challenging each other, all were vocalizing. This went on for over an hour. What was this, some kind of convention? the crowning of the chief crow?

I’ve been a birder for almost forty years, so I am not pre-disposed to dislike crows or subscribe to any of the prejudices against them. However, I readily admit that I took them for granted and even dismissed them as predictable. I included them on my eBird checklists of course, but only really “watched” them in the years when they nested close by. Now I know what I have been missing out on all these years! What remarkable creatures they are. I am going to spread the word. I consider this a public service!

There is a lot of lawn right where I live.  That's where I see crows foraging the most.  I am concerned as I know there is a great deal of pesticide / herbicide on the lawn to keep it green and even.  I had a line of bluebird nests that I checked regularly.  On several occasions I found all chicks and parent were dead inside.  I tended to blame that on the lawn pesticides.  I don't know any crow nests so don't know if they have the same problem with dead young.  The crows drink in the creek that runs along side my home (also bathe).  They also drink from my bird bath.  They don't seem very afraid of people.  Most people here like them, but there are some that hate them.  And some that don't even seem to notice them.

Not in cities much, but they must nest in parks??

I have noticed that in the city the crows seem a bit friendlier and less skittish of people. Same with the city squirrels. For the most part the people seem oblivious to the crows as the people are too busy going about their daily routines

This part of the course was discouraging. I maintain my suburban garden for the pollinators and birds who are resident or migrating and try to make it as natural as possible. No lawn. There are lots of insects to eat and no pesticides. The crows turned up when I started sharing my breakfast walnuts with the chickadees and oak titmice. Whenever my cat Isobel caught a rat, I would set it out for the crows. I hate to think that my daily walnut offerings are in any way hurting their reproductive success.  I do see crows eating out of discarded snack and fast food bags. Sometimes they will steal from my lunch plate, but I have been eating less meat.  Do you think my offerings and their thefts could be contributing to a lower reproductive success?

Sadly, I think many people think that crows are either nuisance animals or lowly scavengers; and they think that crows have unappealing calls (their caws) unlike small songbirds; and if these were not enough, they also think that crows (with their seemingly all-dark plumage) symbolize darkness and despair (hence the old stereotypical portrayal of crows always cawing around cemeteries, deep leafless woods, and abandoned Victorian homes).  However, I know that crows are among the most intelligent animals (not just birds).  Crows in urban and suburban areas are actually craftily and opportunistically looking for greater effective ways to feed and shelter themselves.  Furthermore, many crows actually can interact with people in a good way, and be harmless around people.  Crows also can recognize particular individuals of their own species as well--something that I once thought only humans, great apes, elephants and dolphins can do.  Thus, all people should know the crow in this majestic bird's real and true form.