MANSFIELD, Ohio — What do the cemetery, Mansfield’s Woodland School, the woods behind the Art Center, Lumberman’s Hill, the Ohio State Reformatory and North Lake Park have in common, other than being places in Mansfield?
They all attract murders.
Flocks of American crows have earned themselves the collective name of “murder” throughout time. The name reflects our culture’s revilement of the onyx-shaded bird that overcrowds our communities.
Former director of the Richland County Park District and 36-year avid bird watcher Steve McKee said Mansfield’s murder is comprised of roughly 20,000 crows this year, which break up into different roosts all around Mansfield.
He said they have been coming to Mansfield for decades.
According to wild-bird-watching.com, the migratory birds gather in these roosts beginning in the fall and winter months. Some fly in from as far as 50 miles away.
“They fly in around 4:30 and 5:30 (p.m.),” McKee said of the crows. “This year there’s a roost behind the Art Center and the northwest side of town.”
There are many theories that attempt to explain the reason why the crows congregate in such large numbers during these times just before dark.
McKee holds the belief the crows group up for safety. Together, he said, they can keep watch for predators like the great horned owl and humans.
“Perhaps it’s a bit warmer, too,” he added.
Ohio Bird Sanctuary Executive Director Gail Laux agrees with McKee’s assessment.
“Crows will change their roost approximately every three weeks to elude predators. The roosts are often the same rotations,” Laux wrote in an email. “Many will shift into the cities in the winter because the buildings retain heat.”
Others, however, give the crows a little more credit. They hypothesize the eerie, swarthy flyers share stories about their days using complex caws to warn existing murder members of nearby predators or territory intruders.
“Crows are very intelligent for animals. Their brain size relative to their body size is of the same caliber of most primates,” professor John Marzluff of the University of Washington said in a documentary. “So it really is appropriate to think of these animals as feathered apes.”
Marzluff is the author of multiple essays and books that delve into corvid behavior. His research was featured in the PBS documentary “A Murder of Crows” and in a TEDx Talk in Seattle, Washington.
Although the crow is often perceived as a malicious pest, McKee warned against killing the animal.
“All migratory birds are protected. It’s not good to slaughter them. There are hunting seasons, so you can hunt crows. But you’d have to check on the laws,” McKee said.
According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the crow hunting season is open year-round except from March until the first week in June. There is no bag limit.
Additionally, McKee said crows usually choose wooded lots to avoid being picked off by annoyed humans.
Crows are intelligent animals, no matter the severity of their perceived nuisance, McGill University biologist Louis Lefebvre.
“Sometimes we don’t like the animals that have the same qualities as us. We don’t like crows. Because crows are opportunistic. And so are humans though,” said Lefebvre in “A Murder of Crows.”
