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.