Moosehat's Vancouver Moose-ings Part 104
By rightantler on September 10, 2007 - 10:15pm
The other day I blogged about Crows and specifically the ones in Burnaby. Well according to News 1130 today the reason why the crows are so visibile is because the developers have wiped out the the biggest roosting site in BC for yet another Costco and Keg restaurant. Unlike humans, the crows of course are far too clever to flock to such things ...UPDATE: It seems I have not been imaging these crows. This article is very informative and links to another. I just wonder whether the crows will get together for the Costco opening day - 20,000 birds in a fly past making a lasting 'impression' on the new store :-) 
A Murder of Crows
Moose-ing uploaded by Right Antler.
Technorati Tags: BC, birds, Burnaby, Canada, crows, mooseings, Vancouver
They're also excellent fliers. Sometimes, if I have some
stale bread in the fridge, I take it to the window and
"Frisbee" slices from my vantage point on the 16th floor
towards the street running along the back of the property.
One morning, as the feeding attracted the attention of the
local flock, one of them flew past my window just as I
threw another slice, and caught it neatly. Without pausing,
it carried its reward off across the neighbourhood.
I wish I'd been able to get pictures of that. And I'm
fairly sure that I'm not the only one who feeds our local
crows. And by the way - you'd be surprised at how far a
slice of bread can fly from a 16th floor window. :)
From my 15th floor view I see the crows take their nightly journey from Stanley Park through Downtown towards Burnaby. Normally there is the big Murder/flock but if you look carefully you will see a couple of birds acting a little differently.
Clearly a 'couple' or at least dating they make their way in the same direction as the others, but manage to have some fun on the way. They engage in ariel acrobats with each other, a kind of crow's version of Ice Dancing and clearly have lots of affection for each other.
My general understanding is that the big gatherings are predominantly young and probably still single crows, who get together with all their friends every night to shoot the breeze, check out the 'action' and seek a partner. It's interesting to think that not only may this be the case, crows who are already 'attached' make their way to the roost as well!