I've noticed twice that 2 adult crows will be watching another crow- I'm guessing their baby fledge. one had its wing caught in a blackberry thorned branch. I gently removed the small crow, and it went on its merry way but 2 crows in the trees were yelling at me while I was doing it. Another time in another location I was taking my class out to the playground and it looked like a wounded crow wa in there. I knew the kids would mess with it. So I put a towel over its head and moved it practice flying elsewhere. Again, two birds in the trees were yelling at me.

This is not quite a family with more than just a pair.  However, they stayed together patiently with one of the birds preening itself (no allopreening that I had a chance to observe).

clear away all standing water outside where mosquitoes could breed

2: As someone who lives in Michigan, I often see small groups of crows together, whether it be on a walk in the park or in a parking lot. I find it extremely interesting that they have this family dynamic where they stay with their parents and siblings year after year, so much so that they often take care of each other and help protect siblings' nests. I've never seen anything truly like that in any other bird I've observed.

In my yard in the Maryland suburbs, there is a family of four crows that regularly hangs out. Until I did this lesson, I did not realize that this was actually a family, rather than unrelated members of a larger flock. I did not realize that the young stay with their parents for years, and cooperate in rearing their siblings.

I also only recently learned (from All About Birds) that we have 2 species of crow here - American and Fish crow- and that the best way to tell them apart is by their calls. I think I can tell them apart, but I used the Merlin Sound ID app to verify that this family is indeed American. I have heard Fish crows in the neighborhood, as well.

I was saddened when the local flocks were decimated by WNV a number of years ago. There used to be very large flocks of many hundreds, that were a joy to watch as they settled down to roost at twilight. (Although I would perhaps have been less delighted if they roosted in my yard) Nowadays I generally don't see flocks of more than a few dozen or a few score.

Make sure there is no standing water for mosquitoes to breed in.

1) A family of crows has lived in our neighborhood for years. One thing I have noticed is their defense of the nest from intruders. 2)I find it amazing that crows live in obvious family groups year after year. 3) In order to decrease the spread of WNV we need to decrease the population of mosquitos by eliminating standing water where possible.

I live in a rural area in Virginia. We had vultures that came in every night to roost in our front woods. They're gone now for the summer. Now, a family of crows has come to live in the trees, and I am so grateful because I want to observe them first-hand while I learn  more about them. My only trouble is, that I can't really tell them apart.

1. I live in Chicago. A few springs ago, there was a huge group of crows (at least 40 birds) that would gather in the large deciduous trees right outside my home. It was a fairly intimidating thing to witness and thoughts of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, came to mind. They would gather late in the afternoon and spend several hours there before moving on, only to return the next day. Now I know there was nothing sinister about this group!

2. Crows are much more intelligent than other birds I have observed around the city. I am certain they recognize me, unlike the morning doves who fly away in fear every morning when I open the door.

3. We can decrease the spread of WNV by decreasing the opportunites for mosquitoes to breed. We can remove anything that collects standing water.

Activity #1 - I've been observing the family of American Crows in my area for several months. However, an added challenge for me is to be especially mindful of gazing at them for too long. My understanding is they find this threatening and I know they're watching me watching them! I caught their attention when they noticed me tossing peanuts to the California Scrub-Jays almost a year ago. They began approaching and watching me intently since summer of last year. Sometimes only the breeding male is visible, sometimes 2 of them, and other times 3 (which might include the female and helper). Once or twice, it's been 4-5. At this time, it's a treat to hear the breeding female's begging calls as we head into their breeding season. Activity #2 - Compared to the California Scrub Jays, the American Crows are understandably more cautious and slow to trust. The scrub jays (the male especially) boldly nab peanuts regardless of how I appear or whatever I'm doing that's out of sync with my normal outdoor activities. However, the crows have been alarmed by phenomena such as the sound of me dropping a hose nozzle on concrete and, another time, by my lower face being covered by a mask on a smoky day. Activity #3 -  Be mindful of, and eliminate, standing water in and around the yard, as this presents good breeding opportunities for mosquitoes. I make sure to vigorously disturb water in our garden ponds and change water in birds baths regularly.

Limit places where mosquitoes want to live.

I have been following the neighborhood crows here for the couple of years I've lived here, and I love when the juveniles start coming out and doing their baby-squawks, and seeing their parents and older siblings feed them! I started tossing them some dehydrated salmon dog treats, too, so they recognize me and come swooping down for a snack if they spot me. I love knowing how similar to us they are in terms of social and familial structures for survival. The allo-preening is so cute, I am going to keep my eye out for that now!

I saw a family of 4 crows taking a stroll around the yard. The adults looked to be enjoying each other’s company, while the youngsters followed behind. One of the young ones stepped on the other one’s foot, and the second youngster fell down.  Then he or she got up, trotted after the group, and stepped on the first youngster’s foot, and that one fell down.  It made me laugh.

We have breeding crows in our neighborhood here in Montana. Then in the winter, we have a large influx of wintering crows that have migrated down from Canada.  They have a huge presence in town here, with groups hanging around in various places, and communal roosts. It seems that your Ithaca studies have been on a resident population of crows.  I am curious about these crows that have migrated here for the winter - are they staying in family groups?  Has anyone researched these migratory populations?  I wonder about what kind of different strategies they have.

I live in central New York. I have been watching out my bedroom window a group of crows. How excited I became when I learned that they are indeed a family. They make me laugh with every observation.

I live in the Central Valley of California. Ravens are much more common in this area. I took this class to learn to distinguish Ravens from Crows.

We have moved to a new house / town.  The property has a huge front yard.  We do not have dogs so a family of crows (5) have taken up residence nearby and come to the front yard every day.  I love seeing them, and miss their calls.  I will take notes and watch them more closely in the coming year.

I live in EU so I can only speak for the crows I know which are the hooded crows (Corvus cornix). I want to report two observations of crows caring for a sick member.

•  I saw an adult hooded crow with a clearly broken wing in a private garden. I came back every day bringing him/her food, and I witnessed more than once another adult crow (at least one, I couldn't say if they were different individuals) that brought him/her food.


• As a wildlife rehabber, I hosted in my garden an adult hooded crow that was raised in captivity and was suffering from severe rickets, thus couldn't fly. A healthy hooded crow, another adult, started to visit my garden on a daily basis, taking advantage of the rich food variety I gave to the ill crow. Week after week they grew close, and they started preening each other and exchanging food. The healthy crow would sleep with the ill one (close to the ground). After a year or so, the ill crow died. It was completely out of the blue and the vet said there were probably congenital cardiac malformations involved. The healthy crow stayed around for a couple of weeks, cawing as for calling her partner, and slept were they used to roost together for many nights. Then, she decided to move on and now I rarely see her around, even though I kept giving her the same food.

I've had a pair coming to the yard for about two years now, once in a while there are three of them up to a high of nine for a few weeks last fall! I wish so much that I knew who they were to each other, though I imagine they are a family group. There has been a lot of very interesting behaviour from them, one usually stands sentry while the other ones eat, and they almost always leave something for the sentry crow to take at the end, which is cool. Last spring they vanished for April and May, I assume for nesting purposes. They returned in June with three babies, which were as big as the adults, but obviously babies from their behaviour. The babies were MUCH braver than my pair, venturing much further into the yard, spending much more time on the ground and hopping around and on everything. I guess since no harm came to them, they are all much braver now and spent a lot more time here. They even will wait in the tree if I'm going out to the feeders instead of flying away. This spring I still see at least one every day, and have seen three here and there, so I'm not sure what that means for nesting. The one in particular is much more comfortable around me. This spring too I have noticed more quarrelling among them, I assume this 'third' crow is the issue. It never seems serious, thankfully, but loud and with some chasing. I'm very interested in see if some babies will make an appearance. The crows are much louder than the other birds, and much more likely to stick around when I'm outside, they also are not at all bothered by our (senior) dog, unlike the other birds, and will still come to eat if he's out in the yard. I absolutely think they know that he is no threat to them. I have a bird bath that I deep clean weekly and change the water in daily in the summer to prevent mosquitoes. I also have started planting flowers that are supposed to deter mosquitoes, I don't know how true that is, but it can't hurt - marigolds, citronella mostly.

I have been observing and feeding a family of 8 crows for 3 years. I notice that every April, they stop visiting daily and come around less often, I’m assuming due to nest building, egg incubation and care of the babies. About 4-6 weeks later, they resume daily food visits, with new fledged baby crows in tow!

1. Some years ago, we had a torrential all-night rain. I went out to my garden the next morning. A pair of  crows were very agitated and the closer I got to my garden, the more frantically they called. I knew there had to be a youngster. Sure enough, I found him on the ground, cold and soaking wet, shivering and weak. I got a box to put him in, dried him off and coaxed some canned dog food into him. My 10 year old son was so excited, having always wanted a pet crow. I told him we could make sure this young one was well and strong enough to be released but he had to be wild and with his family. The next morning, after my son fed his little friend, we went outside. There were two crows calling up in the trees. I thought it could be the parents so my brave son got "his" crow and we let it out on the patio. Immediately, the two other crows flew down to it. There was the most uncanny conversation among the parents and fledgling. Quiet, un-crowlike clucking noises. And off they all went. Our young bird was indeed able to fly; he had only been unable because he was so cold.

2. When I was a  child, a nest of baby robins blew down during a storm. My mother took them in, conscripted us kids into worm-digging, and she fed them every two to three hours until they became a little older. And every day, there was a tapping on the kitchen window by two adult robins. She put the chicks on the lawn and the adults fed them for half an hour or so. This went on for a couple of weeks. So some other birds are as dedicated to their families and have the moxy of crows.

3. Keep the water in your pond moving with pump. Mosquitoes lay their eggs in still water.

1. Winter 2019, I lived in the second story of a kayak building. Many crows gathered on the balcony. Watching them one day, they would puff u their bodies, huddle close side by side, and droop their bodies over their legs. Couldn't even see their legs. Sometimes they'd regurgitate pellets... some preening..

2. Way more social amongst one another and other animals.

3. ........plant more citronella?

where can I find a track of the "whining" tune a female crow makes when she is on the nest?

Last fall, there was a dead squirrel, probably roadkill, on the street right outside my house. In the morning, I observed a family of crows (about 5 individuals) feeding on it, and noticed like it was mentioned in this lesson that there was a sentry perched atop a tree right nearby, watching for danger. The family was there for a brief period before the sentry alerted them and all the crows flew away. They did not return to the carcass (I was working from home and observing and had my eye on it for most of the day), but much later in the day around 4-5pm a Turkey Vulture did arrive and finish of most of the carcass.

I have a family of crows that lives on my street. In the summer, they will hop around on the pavement and find bugs, which they will then feed to each other. It is so interesting to watch them feed each other and allopreen!