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West Virginia Crow Observation LogsThis section includes reports of various observers from the State of West Virginia. Grant Acres Estates, Martinsburg, West Virginia, U.S.A.: 1995 to November 2000 (reported 3/5/01) Location_Description: Our house sat on a 15 acre hill top. To our east was about a 60 acre mature woods just across a road. To our southwest was another big heavily treed woods of probably 40 acres. For about five years running the 60 acre woods was a nesting area for about 30-40 crows. In the winter they moved to the second wooded area I just mentioned. Then in 2000 they moved the nesting area to the second wooded area. We moved to Santa Barbara last November, so I do not know where they wintered after that. I have observed crows in West Virginia, California, England and Europe. They all had different accents. I don't know all that much about crows so I can't tell you if they were different species or not. People in those different places have different accents, so why shouldn't the crows? Three miles east of Martinsburg, WV Berkeley County: October 15, 1999. (reported 3/3/01) Location_Description: A big old Oak tree with a four foot diamater trunk with many branches. Located in Grant Acres Estate, Kearneysville, WV. Behavior: About 10 seeminly young crows and one older bigger crow were all sitting in this big oak tree across from my house. The big crow started cawing and cawing and cawing. All of a sudden two small crows both took off and flew to the northwest. The big crow continued cawing for a minute or two and two more young crows took off at the exact same time and flew to the west. This went on and on until all the smaller crows, in pairs, had covered all the points on the compus. Comments: It seemed to me that the bigger crow, the teacher, was telling the smaller crows which direction to search for food. When the last of the smaller crows left the tree, the "teacher", returned to the flock's summer nesting area to the southwest. We have since moved to Santa Barbara, CA and I've noticed that the crows leave their roosting area early in the morning and return to the same place around 4:00 in the afternoon. This happens in West Virginia and California. Since Santa Barbara is a coastal community the crows always fly over to the San Yenez Mountains to the north and return from there in the late afternoon, instead of flying over the ocean or the beach areas. I also noticed that when they come "home" in the afternoon they always sit on the power lines with exact spacing between each of them. They caw away, making losts of noise, like they were discussing their days adventures. It will be a single space, a double space or perhaps a quadruple space between each of them. When it gets dark they head for their roosting trees just behind my house. (Rob Robertson) (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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