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Illinois Crow Observation LogsThis section includes reports of various observers from the State of Illinois. UPDATED: July 28, 2001 Galesberg, Illinois: 5/13/01 My name is Kevin McKinney and I am a student at Knox College in Galesburg, IL. Every year I've been here crows have been roosting in the trees around our campus throughout winter and spring. Cars parked on the street under trees suffer the worst, but the entire area is covered with droppings anyway, sidewalks, streets, you name it -- if it's uncovered at dusk, it's fair game to the thousands of crows that wheel through the skies. I'd estimate that several thousand roost in the trees every night for several months. That's Galesburg, IL 61401. The city installed a device that plays (extremely loudly) the call of what I believe to be great horned owls, about every 15 minutes. This worked for about one or two weeks before they caught on and disregarded the noise. Nothing the city has done has been able to drive them away. Hope this helps! Chicago, Illinois: 12/6/99 Location_Description: City backyard Behavior: I have been providing peanuts to a small group of crows who have become brave enough to hang around my backyard. It took quite some time for them to build a trust level, and come to my garage roof as I am throwing the nuts for them. Recently one of my regulars began clacking his beak at me in response to my talking to him. It was the first time a crow had attempted to communicate with me in this way. He has done it several times now. It is a very gentle opening and closing of his bill. He also bends his neck, and sometimes wipes his bill on his perch when he does this. Comments: I am wondering if this could be his greeting to me, or if it might be a way of asking for food. It seems more likely that it would be a greeting, as he already knows I'm going to throw him the nut. (This section will be added to on a continuing basis. Your comments and suggestions are welcomed. Other parts of the site are also under construction. This site will be continually expanding as the Crows.net Project grows.) |
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