Communal gatherings are common amongst people, and crows. Hoards of black-feathered birds may seem like a doomsday scenario to you; crows after all are symbolic of death in some cultures. And they’re coming closer. As urbanization and cities expand, crows increasingly flock to the suburbs.

“These large urban roosts are where the crows spend the night so they can exploit the urban landscape during the day,” explains John Marzluff, a biologist from the University of Washington in Seattle.

Even scarier, these birds are smart. According to 19th century social reformer Henry Ward Beecher, “if men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be clever enough to be crows.” According to Marzluff their intelligence rivals that of the great apes. They have been known to make tools, which they then use to create other tools.

Now, time to assess our chances. Crows can fly, they are smarter than us, they are armed. Humanity seems to be fighting a losing battle, which can be seen in several instances throughout recent times. What advice, does Deborah Jones-Kennedy, a Vancouver writer and editor have? Live in peace and harmony with them instead.

“People in our neighbourhood feed the crows and put out water for them. The crows don’t dive-bomb any of us.” – John Marzluff, a biologist from the University of Washington in Seattle

There are signs. humans can benefit from not declaring war on crows. also proven to be a valid indicator of West Nile virus, dying off in massive numbers in an affected area, acting as a huge warning sign to nearby people. Also, according to George Chulow, president of British Columbia Field Ornithologists, they provide a public service.

“There is nothing evil about they them, they kill rats and mice, flies and wasps and clean up garbage. Without them we’d have a heck of a mess,” said Chulow.

The crows are taking over, and humanity cannot win! Find out how humanity’s only chance is to make peace with these our ingenious black-winged foes in « Rulers of the Roost »  by Kerry Banks in Canadian Wildlife magazine, Sep + Oct 2015 edition.

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