I've been tuned in to crows recently. They're everywhere.
As I was driving down to the poker tournament I saw them flying in from all directions, headed for Munjoy Hill. There's such a mysterious intelligence at work in a gathering like that. Where are they getting the information about the location of the roost, and when it's time to go there? Baffling. It reminds me of the way locusts know when to wake up from their 17 year slumber, all on the same night. The world is full of secrets.
I learned as much as I wanted to know about roosting crows (a gathering of crows is called a "murder" of crows -- yikes) here.
I do not like crows. They're spooky. Thanks for the info.
Posted by: Scully | February 20, 2005 at 10:41 AM
Lots of good stuff on corvids (OK, mostly ravens, but they're related) by Bernd Heinrich, one of my favorite non-fiction authors. "Ravens in Winter," if I recall correctly, has some discussion of information sharing among ravens, along with creative scientific use of roadkill.
Posted by: pjm | February 20, 2005 at 11:53 AM
The next town to where you were born is called Contoocook which, I have been told, means 'gathering place of the crows'. Apparently as recently as 200 years ago they would gather there until the sky was black....
Posted by: win | February 20, 2005 at 05:28 PM
Have you ever seen the Alfred Hitchcock movie, the Birds?
Posted by: SunGrooveTheory | February 20, 2005 at 08:40 PM