A Murder of Crows?

Isn't that what a flock of crows is called? Some people here at West Campus might be considering doing in a few crows, since they've been roosting on campus lately. They is probably 5000 shiny black crows. Out foraging all day, as the sun goes down they come streaming home to spend the night in the treetops, and to leave droppings on every surface below - including each other.

Home is temporary, and seems to shift around from day to day - both within the West Campus grounds and just outside in the trees on Frontage Road. It's an awesome sight to witness the river of birds overhead - captured here by Annette as she was leaving work recently.

Our Courtyard birdfeeder is attracting steady attention these days. With snowcover pretty complete, we have a regular following of:

7 to 9 Mourning Doves, Zenaida macroura
5 to 6 Juncos, Junco hyemalis
3-4 Chickadees, Poecile atricapillus
2-3 Cardinals, Cardinalis cardinalis
one Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia
one White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis
and still an occasional Robin in the crabapple tree, Turdus migratorius