David

=I'm observing crows.= March 12- no observations yet but I've seen crows fly over

- __//**short details**//__ - frayed wing tips, almost like spikes - have annoying calls, they do question answer calls, many times the answer is a different call from the question. What I heard was the typical caw, caw, caw, caw as the question and a fast rapid series of caw, caw, caw, caw as the answer. I have a recording on my iPod and will upload it here when I figure out how to.


 * //March 17 5:20 - 5:50// I noticed two crows in a tree across the road. The tree was perhaps 50 feet from the road. They were calling a quick caw, caw, caw, caw, caw. When they fly they flap several times and glide short distances occasionally. The crows seemed comfortable around each other because they were only a few feet from each other. They would cock their heads around, looking, and would sometimes bob their head up and down. One of the crows then flew several feet higher into the tree. Then I noticed a third crow. The crows continued to look around, calling a lot. One flew about a foot higher onto another branch. Then one of the crows left. The crows are all black, even on their stomach. They were calling the same call almost every time. I could hear crows answering in the distance. Then, another crow flew off. The remaining crow became silent but started calling again a few minutes later. Then a crow flew overhead, only flapping. I observed that the tail widens out at the end. Then four crows flew to a tree about 30 feet away from me. Then they flew about 400 feet away. then one crow came back. The crow landed in a blue spruce. Then one crow came, flew around the spruce and then flew off. Next, the crow in the spruce flew off. A crow returned several minutes later. I could hear a slower caw now. I then lost sight but I could still hear cawing. End session. **


 * //March 24 3:55 - 4:15// I saw a crow walking and pecking the ground around a pine. The crow was bobbing it's head and looking around. Then the crow flew about 10 feet higher onto a branch. I could hear the typical caw. The crow was looking around and I could hear calls in the distance. Then I saw two crows fly off. Then I saw a crow across the road into a tree about 50 feet in the air. It was just sitting and looking around. Then it flew off but came back minutes later. I saw that it had a kind of large wingspan. It was bobbing it's head, moving, and looking around. I can still hear the calls. Then it hopped to a different branch. It was also shuffling. Now it was about 60 feet from the ground. There were no other crows around it. Then I saw three birds fly off. I saw one glide in circles until it landed. Then I lost sight but found another crow. It was flapping and gliding. Then I lost sight and it didn't return. End session. **


 * //March 27 1:20 - 1:35// I saw two crows pecking the ground in the front yard. They were only on the grass; they didn't go on the snow. They were walking in different directions, but then one followed the other. Then, that bird stopped following the other. They were both still pecking the ground, walking in circles, and bobbing their heads. I couldn't hear calls. Then I could hear a caw, caw, caw, caw, but not too fast. Then both crows flew overhead and the wings and tail looked gray from underneath and the tail has feathers that round out at the end. End session. **

//**March 28 4:20 - 4:30**// I saw a crow cawing. It flew from tree to tree and back to the first tree. The crow was looking around and calling. Next, I saw two crows in a tree very close to each other but then they both flew off. I then noticed a crow by the road but I got too close and it saw me so it flew off. End session.

//**March 29 3:20 - 3:40**// I noticed one crow on the ground; it was pecking, looking around, and walking. Then it went behind the snowbank and I lost sight but found it again a minute later. It wasn't on the snow, only on grass. Then it flew to the tree and walked up a branch and I lost sight. Then I saw four crows in a field and I could hear short, quick caws. Next, I lost sight of one crow, another crow walked towards another, and I noticed a crow separated from the group. Then two crows got close to each of the other two. Then they all flew away. End session.

//**March 30 1:35 - 2:00**// I saw one crow pecking the ground and looking around and I could hear one crow in the distance. I found another crow on the ground but neither crow was on the snow. They were bobbing their heads and calling. Then I lost sight of one and I saw one fly to the ground but I lost sight of it. When the crow flew, I noticed that it didn't flap that fast. I could hear several crows in the distance. I could hear one in a tree but I couldn't see it. Then I saw another crow on the ground and it flew to the tree. Now there's one crow on the ground. It was still walking, bobbing it's head, and looking around. Then it called and I lost sight bit found it again. I could hear crows in the distance and close by. The crow flew off. End session.

//**March 30 2:10 - 2:40**// I saw one crow on a telephone pole and it flew to a tree then flew away. Then I see one crow on the soccer field and it flew onto the fence. I noticed a crow outside the fence also. Then I lost sight of the one outside the fence and the other crow kept flying between the ground and the fence. Then I found two crows on the ground and they were pecking, walking, and looking around. The crows bob their heads when they walk. Both flew away; once to the fence, other to a white birch. I could hear lots of calls, near and far. They both fly ti the ground; I lose sight of one and the other walks along the fence. Then I find another on the fence but they both fly away. Then i see two crows fly by into the woods. I saw one crow flying, fighting the wind but then it gave up and went with the wind into the trees. Then I saw two crows fly by and three crows struggle against the wind. I could still hear many calls but I couldn't see any crows. End session.

//**March 31 4:55 - 5:25**// I saw one crow on a rofftop but then it flew away. Next, three crows fly by; they all go to different trees but then they all flew too. Then I saw two crows across the street, one very colse to the road. One flew out of sight and the other walked out of sight. the next moment I found both of them walking, looking around, and bobbing their heads. Then, they both flew off and I lost them. I then saw a crow to my right but it flew of with what looked like some thing in its mouth (possibly a twig for the nest). Then, I saw a crow several hundred feet away; it was just pecking the ground and looking around. One crow flew overhead so I decided to leave the crow I was observing to follow that crow but I lost it. I could hear many calls around me, the typical call and a rapid series of calls. Next, I barely saw a crow many hundred feet away in a tree. It was looking around, shuffling, and cawing once in a while. I could only see it at a certain angle. But then it flew off. End session and 3:00.

-//**__more short details__**// -about 2.5 foot wingspan -all observations were on Clinton Ave. except the March 27 observation which was on the Augusta Rd. -crows do many call-and-answers -I think that most observations (along with the typical call), the calls I heard, were the rattle calls (from males) and they were also bobbing their heads which iare both signs of courtship -it's impossible to visibly tell the difference between male and female crows -it's very hard to determine what the crow calls are for because there are so many of them -there were several crows that flew overhead around the same time (5:00-6:00 P.M.) whenever I saw them so and they were going the same place so I assume they're going to their nest