Counting Crows: Portland’s Urban Crow Roost By The Numbers (Poster)
Abstract
Our observations and documentation of the winter roost of crows in downtown Portland began in the winter of 2017/18 with an initial casual observation of over 3,000 roosting crows. We subsequently developed a methodology for observing and documenting the roost’s size, location, relative density, and other roosting behaviors. To date we have completed ≈100 observations made ≈1x/week, with fewer observations during the low point for the roost (May-August) when most crows are in their breeding territories. Our data include total census figures for each observation, the number of blocks and block faces with roosting crows, peak and average numbers by time and location, geographic distribution of the roost over time, and the presence of roosting crows with a 72-block area where roosting crows are hazed by Harris’s Hawks from October through April each year.
Our poster will illustrate selected data collected with explanatory text and graphics.
Subjects
Animal ecology, Environmental social sciences, Wildlife biology
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/33826
Counting Crows: Portland’s Urban Crow Roost By The Numbers (Poster)
Our observations and documentation of the winter roost of crows in downtown Portland began in the winter of 2017/18 with an initial casual observation of over 3,000 roosting crows. We subsequently developed a methodology for observing and documenting the roost’s size, location, relative density, and other roosting behaviors. To date we have completed ≈100 observations made ≈1x/week, with fewer observations during the low point for the roost (May-August) when most crows are in their breeding territories. Our data include total census figures for each observation, the number of blocks and block faces with roosting crows, peak and average numbers by time and location, geographic distribution of the roost over time, and the presence of roosting crows with a 72-block area where roosting crows are hazed by Harris’s Hawks from October through April each year.
Our poster will illustrate selected data collected with explanatory text and graphics.
