Last night (1/10/08) we decided to try once again to determine how many
crows are using the roost located behind the Annin flag company in Coshocton. We
arrived at 4:30 PM and the trees already had quite a few birds in them, but
not so many that we couldn't get a beginning count of ~550. As the birds
streamed in, we were able to count them, first in groups of 10, then 50s, then
100s. There was even a space of time when we could only estimate groups of
1000. Tim & I were each counting from 2 different directions but there were
also birds coming in from beyond the trees that we could not see well enough to
count so the final count we came up with has to be off by at least a few
thousand. To make it an even greater challenge, it was raining pretty steadly
and then a train came by and roused them all up. What a sight that was! At
any rate, our final tally was 16,180. And knowing that we missed several
thousand, that roost has to be at least 20,000 crows strong. So my question is,
does anyone know how this roost compares to other crow roosts throughout the
state? And how many large roosts might be present? How far away might these
birds be coming from?
While getting permission to park in the back parking lot to count the birds,
employees of the flag company expressed a great deal of interest in what we
were doing, partly because they have been finding a significant number of
dead crows on & around the lot. They wondered whether there was anyone to whom
this should be reported. I informed them that as far as I know, there is no
further testing being done on crows for West Nile virus, but that I would
inquire on this list serve as to whether there is anyone interested in this
information.
If anyone else is interested in checking out this crow roost, the flag co.
people are very cooperative; they just ask that you let them know you are there
& why. If the door is locked when you arrive, just ring the buzzer--there
is always someone around. Annin & Co. is located just south of the
intersection of 3rd & Ivy in Coshocton.
Laura Dornan
Louisville
Stark Co.
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