Now that most of the deciduous trees have shed their leaves, our resident American Crows are starting to pick out roosting areas where they’ll huddle through the nights, often with cousins whom they couldn’t stand in the summer or never saw then. (Inland Crows often come to the coast in the fall, seemingly sensing that food-rich tidal areas usually don’t get covered in impenetrable snow.)
During the spring and summer, Crows aggressively maintain small atomic family territories. The extended family roosts that they form in the winter are thought to be defensive creations. These dark birds are very visible against the dusk sky at the time that their arch enemies, Great Horned Owls, are hunting. More Crow eyes, ears, and beaks lessen the odds that they’ll be surprised by a quiet-flying raptor with murderous talons.
Speaking of murder, there is the folk tale that assures us that the real reason that Crows gather is to decide whether to put one of their own family to death for violating the intricate Crow society’s norms. Thus, a group of Crows often is called a “Murder of Crows.” (Brooklin, Maine)