Rebecca

1.  The crows in my area do seem to be healthy.  I must admit that before this course I didn't observe crows with the same attention I did "my" other birds.  I have never seen evidence of the foot disease shown in the video, nor of WNV ( perhaps due to local campaigns discouraging opportunities for mosquitoes to breed, like uncovered water containers ). 2.  I have not observed aggression between crows, more banding together to ward off a perceived threat, like with a hawk or owl.  I do feel that since I don't see large gatherings of crows in town where I live, the crows I do see are of a more family-oriented nature.

1.  I haven't noticed any foraging flocks too much where I live, but close to the nearby city of Watertown, NY, I have observed large forager groups on the outskirts of the city during the day in fall/winter, mostly near cleared off farm fields.  The last several winters the city has hired a company to then come and break up large groups of crows that then return to the city at night.  I can observe this behavior when I am driving mostly, and you can actually see the crows heading back into the city when night comes. 2.  I have seen other groups of blackbirds do the same in late summer/fall, such as starlings, both in town and out in the fields.  In spring large blackbird groups can be observed with some of the returning species, like grackles and red-winged blackbirds together in the same group.  Now that's a noisy congregation!

When I started this segment of the course and looked at the line up of other blackbirds, I realized just how much I knew because several are frequently sighted where I live in Northern New York.  I have to focus real closely when the birds are in flight, however.  A still shot is rather safe to look at and then make a decision.  Live action crows can be another story.  But I keep trying.  It's getting better!