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hundreds of black crows in my trees

16 years ago

I am new to this forum and thought I would start here to find some answers. About 2 weeks ago I noticed lots of birds chirping in my trees but couldn't really determine what type of bird. I know believe they are black crows. I came home today to find hundreds of crows in the trees, chirping and flying around. I am not exaggerating when I say hundreds, and I only live on less than an acre of property. I can hear their chirping through the walls of my house. They will chirp for minutes then all of a sudden go quiet for a few seconds, then off they go again. I'm not concerned that they are in my trees, but it seems odd behavior. This is my second year in this house and the first time I've noticed the birds. Is it too early for the crows to be in their mating season? Is there anything I should be concerned about?

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Comments (6)

bob414
16 years ago
Sounds more like starlings than crows. Crows can make a lot of noise but I've never heard it described as chirping.
lisa11310
16 years ago
Crows don't chirp they caw. Can you get a picture of them?
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claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
16 years ago
I agree that it's not likely to be crows, but it could be common grackles which look a lot like small crows. Here in MA the red-winged blackbirds are now arriving en masse and the grackles and cowbirds will arrive later.

You'd probably have noticed the red badges on the wings if your birds are red-wings.

Claire
tifbee
Original Author
16 years ago
The birds are solid black and have a strong, pointed beak. When I've seen them on the ground, they stand a foot high. Their calls are not like little bird chirping or the normal crow caw but sound like a higher bell chirp then the normal sound of a crow cawing.
I took some video of it yesterday that I will try to post tonight.
Thanks for your responses.
jiggreen
16 years ago
What color are the beaks on the birds? European starlings can easily be mistaken for crows from a distance, and they tend to gather en masse....their specks/flecks are not real obvious from far away. European starlings will have long pointed yellow beaks, crow beaks seem to be thicker..don't come to quite as sharp of a point and are black.
lazypup
16 years ago
On the other hand they may very well have been crows.

Flocking in large masses is a common habit of crows in winter and this winter the flocks around here can only be described as super flocks. Two weeks ago while working in the yard I observed a flock of crows flying overhead. When I first noticed them I thought they must be flying in a circle because they were continually moving overhead for at least 5 minutes.

later that evening I heard on our local TV news that they had landed in a wooded area adjacent to Barnes Airport about 1.5 miles away ( a small private airport servicing private and some light twin engine commuter aircraft)

Pilots reported that when in flight the flock was at least a mile long and under advice of Federal Safety Authorities all flight operations were suspended for 8 hours while wardens from the State Fish & Game Commission were detonating large fireworks in an effort to convince the flock go away. The game wardens conservatively estimated the flock to be between 3000 and 5000 crows and although the CAW sound of a crow is very distinctive, none the less, when in mass there is a low hum of noise that can only be described as cackling.

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