A Murder of Crows, Hyde Park

I was changing in the bedroom upstairs, when I heard a lot of commotion outside. After listening a while, I realized that it was crows cawing. And not just one or two, but a lot of crows making a lot of noise.

Peeking out my window, I saw a ton of crows, circling the trees in my neighbor’s yard. I was pretty mesmerized – and tried to take a bit of video from inside.

I ended up walking outside, to the back porch… and took some more video that’s a bit lower (and clearer).

Note: if you watch the video below, you may have to crank up the volume. When the video switches to the outside, the audio gets slightly louder. Audio is unnerving, either way.

What I didn’t catch from upstairs: the huge number of crows, perched in the trees nearby.

I remember reading an article that talked about how smart crows were, and how long-lived they are. How good their memories are. In one of the stories from that article, someone had “wronged” a crow in their backyard, and it resulted in a large number of crows swooping and attacking anyone who went out back. The only viable option that anyone gave them, regarding the situation: move.

It would be nice/fun to befriend a crow. But man oh man, after looking at the display from today… I think I really want to avoid getting on a crow’s bad side. Because it sounds like there would be a lot of other crows to answer to.

Related:
Ian Rogers: Collective Noun Project
Illinois Centennial Monument: That’s A Lot of Birds