19 November 2023
As I wrote in Attempting To Transfer The Crows final Thursday, Pittsburgh’s iciness crow flock now numbers 6,000 to ten,000 and can construct to twenty,000 via the tip of December. Their ultimate flight to the roost each night is so spectacular that I incorporated a video taken from my rental window. Annie commented, “Your video is implausible! However the place do the crows cross throughout the day? And does morning glance the similar as they depart?”
Within the morning crows depart the roost prior to daybreak however no longer just about within the numbers I see at nightfall, most certainly as a result of maximum of them depart when it’s too darkish to peer Black Birds in a Black Sky. They’re tiny silhouettes on this daybreak photograph.
The crows fan out in all instructions and shuttle 6 to 50 miles a technique — in levels — to search out meals. Flocks of 10 to 50 cross to neighborhoods on trash day.
Photographer Sue Thompson stated those crows have been an afternoon too early.
Some teams seek advice from eating places and buying groceries facilities to discover the dumpsters.
However for a actually giant banquet crows cross to landfills. There are no less than seven huge landfills inside of 30 miles of Pittsburgh’s crow roost. The closest are 8-15 miles “because the crow flies.”
In mid-afternoon they begin to head again in levels. In the beginning there are only a few crows in step with flock.
They pause alongside the way in which in ever larger numbers as they mix into boisterous, noisy flocks. On the staging spaces they meet new pals, greet neighbors, and change details about their day. It’s “The Bar Scene For Crows.”
The final degree is a handiest few blocks from the roost. Then they fly in after darkish.
And the following morning they begin it far and wide once more. In the event that they have been rousted from final evening’s roost they’ll select a brand new one and transfer the general staging space. Crows are versatile.
p.s. In the event you didn’t see the video taken from my rental window at Attempting To Transfer The Crows, test it out right here: