19 December 2025

Only one week to go before Pittsburgh’s Christmas Bird Count on Saturday 27 December and I’m getting worried. I’ve volunteered to head up the Crow Patrol and so far we’ve found only 5,000 of them.

I know you’re gonna say, “You found 5,000. Isn’t that enough?” Well, I expect 10,000 to 20,000 crows. Where are the rest of them? I need your help.

Last evening Charity Kheshgi and I counted 5,000 crows streaming past Phipps Conservatory, in transit from a staging area in Schenley Park to the roost near Pitt’s Student Union. That flock came in from the south. How many arrived from the North? East? West? Crows always stream in from multiple directions. Where are the streams?

Are there other roosts in town besides the one at Pitt?

If you see this lots of crows swirling at dusk you are near a roost. If it’s NOT at Univ of Pittsburgh central campus(*), let me know where it is. In years past the crows have chosen spots in the Hill District, along the Allegheny River near Heinz Lofts, Duquesne University campus, Robinson Street Ext near the Pitt Sports Dome, etc.

By Univ of Pittsburgh’s central campus I mean: Cathedral of Learning, Student Union, Hillman Library, Posvar Hall, Frick Fine Arts, Barco Law Building, Soldiers and Sailors, etc.

Crows are definitely in the trees there but many are roosting on flat roofs where we can’t see them. On Tuesday night, 16 December, Michelle Kienholz saw hundreds of crows burst into the sky above Posvar Hall at 10:00pm. Here’s her short video of crows rising up from the roof and settling back down.

Please leave a comment from now through the Day After Christmas (26 December 2025) to let me know where you see crows within the City limits:

• Where are there crows in the City streaming across the sky at dusk? (Sorry but I don’t need to know where they are in the suburbs.)
• Where are crows in the City swirling at sunset or crows perched or swirling at night?

With your help we’ll successfully count crows on Saturday 27 December.