If you are up early, or a light sleeper, you can't help but hear the persistent sound of crows exiting the neighborhood around 6:30 each morning, and then just as boisterously returning to the CWE at dusk, above and below.
In December 2010, I included the following information in a post:
"Central West End resident and longtime friend Ellie Chapman asked if I knew anything about crows, a noisy bunch of neighbors to be
sure…
'What's with all the crows flying around the CWE? We watch them
flying by the hundreds morning and night. Last night they were chasing
one of "our" hawks. They seem to choose a new roosting spot every
night.'
To get the answer I went to the appropriate authority on the subject and emailed Martin Schweig, and this is his very interesting reply:
'In the fall, after the nesting and raising of their young is over,
crows start gathering in increasingly large flocks. This social
behavior seems to have great survival value over trying to make it
alone. During the daylight hours the flocks seem to disperse to the
city outskirts (Ladue, Chesterfield etc.) to feed and then in the
evening they return to the city where there are lots of tall trees and
it is warmer. (Here they also unload their meals from earlier in the
day). There is a lot more light in the city so they can move about all
evening long. They do not seem to need 8 hours of sleep every night. In
the early spring, they start to pair off, look for nesting sites and
abandon the flocks.'"
If you happen to be in Forest Park at the end of the day you'll see the birds resting on the Upper Muny Lot and Central Field, before heading back to the neighborhood for the night. Pondering the National Backyard Bird Count effort (see yesterday's post) taking place this weekend, where would you start counting crows?