Pittsburgh’s crows are back!
The winter flock is building. Hundreds gathered last evening near Bigelow Boulevard at Craig Street. As sunlight faded in the western sky they left to roost … where?
This morning Tony Bledsoe dodged the “rain” from their roost in the trees near Clapp Hall. His guess at the size of the flock? 500. And this is just the beginning. By November they’ll build to a crescendo of crows.
Where do they gather at dusk? Leave a comment with the news … or tweet me the location of Pittsburgh’s crow flock @KStJBirdblog (hashtag #pghcrows)
(photo of hooded crows in Denmark, by Jens Rost via Wikimedia Commons. Click on the photo to see the original.)
Yay, I’m so glad they’re back, even if that means winter is coming! Thanks for sharing!
I watched them gather one evening last winter. I was in the park on Bigelow Blvd. It was very cool.
Have 200-250 on the roofs and treetops outside my window right now. Some drinking from the puddles on one rooftop from yesterday’s rain. Another few seem to have found some pizza crusts or breadsticks maybe and are playing keepaway trying to find a spot to enjoy their finds.
The crows wandered a couple block away, but in the last few minute all took off towards the Pitt campus. As they all got in the air I’d have to estimate there are close to 1,000 in the group now.
For the past few years, the crows have been gathering at Allegheny County Cemetery on Duncan Avenue in the North Hills. There is a number of old trees in this cemetery where they flock. I have a bad cell phone video of them when I was driving through the cemetery, and all I could really remember of the experience was the loud cawing that seemed to echo in the car.
About 200 crows in morrow park, shadyside,bloomfield. 7:00pm Saturday Oct 20.
oh, so happy to hear they are back. I feel like they are really really late, but maybe not! thanks so much for alerting me!!!!
At least a thousand in Garfield, right near Penn ave and Negley tonight. They keep flying down Stratford and circling back to Garfield.
Thanks for that information.On election day I witnessed what looked like 400 crows squawking and flying like they were going somewhere special. It was 5:30PM near Negley Ave. in Pittsburgh. I wondered where they were headed it was amazing. From reading I hear that they gather to roost probably now I see heading to polish hill to those safe trees. Just amazing. I was joking that they were going to vote…
For the past two weeks they’ve been flocking around my property every other day at sundown (4-5pm), I live at the edge of a 20 acre woods in Spring Garden. They hang out in the dozens of 50’+ tall locust trees around my house, then fly east a few hundred yards across our narrow valley to Troy Hill, back and forth. Easily more than 1000, I’d estimate 10k. Will post video. I really like them, hope no one is trying to destroy them.
Here’s a video of the crows in Spring Garden:
http://youtu.be/84MO7mkJHrI
A.J., it’s cool to see the crows in Spring Garden. Maybe they’re part of the main roost at the Strip District. Today’s blog tells how many were at the roost on Dec 29: http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2012/12/31/20058-crows/
And here’s some information on crow poop: http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2010/11/12/anatomy-excretion/
My husband and I saw a huge flock of hundreds of crows flying back and forth in Shadyside!! Yesterday and today around 5:45 we had a great view from the 4th floor window in the hospital.
Julie, thanks for the crow news. I’ll have to check it out!
PS it was the side of the hospital that ‘faces’ toward Bloomfield , if that helps.