16 November 2023
Crow information this week! from Phillip Rogers:
Hello all! There are loads (almost definitely 1000’s?) of crows that roost each evening outdoor the Cathedral of Studying at Pitt. Coming in at daybreak it looks like a scene instantly out of Hitchcock’s The Birds film. This night I noticed a person (amenities or groundskeeping worker?) the usage of loud clapping and flashing lighting to take a look at to get the birds to depart (brief video underneath). The sidewalks throughout are suffering from droppings, which is possibly why they would like the birds long gone.
— Phillip Rogers remark to PittsBirder Chat
I remembered a equivalent episode 10 years in the past when Pitt used chook misery sounds to scare the crows. Again then it labored …
… however crows are in point of fact good. They quickly found out the recordings are faux and promptly unnoticed them.
By way of 2020 Pitt needed to exchange ways. Crows don’t like surprising loud noises and flashing lighting once they’re seeking to sleep so Pitt made hinged wood clappers to scare the crows.
The clappers labored … however crows are continual so this yr Pitt had so as to add flashing lighting.
This tug of warfare with iciness crows occurs annually when 1000’s come to Pittsburgh to spend the iciness. By way of mid-November the crows put on out their welcome at Pitt and are “inspired” to transport to different places.
At the moment there are 6,000 to ten,000 crows seeking to sleep at Pitt and till they forestall roosting there, I reside of their flyway. This video from early Nov 2020 displays what it used to be like outdoor my condo on 5 November.
By way of the top of the yr the crow flock will quantity 20,000 and the roost can have moved a few times. The place will they be on 30 December when I’ve to rely crows for the Pittsburgh Christmas Chicken Depend? I’ll wish to to find out.
(credit are within the captions)