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Post Info TOPIC: Migration percentages?


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Migration percentages?
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Anybody ever see migration percentages for crows?

 

What got me thinking about this, is that I see and kill more crows in the middle of winter than in the summer up here. Crows are every where right now.

 

I realise that one of the reason is that they are more concentrated and gathered instead of being all spread out. I also know that the guys hunting them south of me see them moving south so obviously some of our crows are migrating south. However, there are tons of crows around here right now. Now, we have no snow at all, but even in years where we have had a lot of snow, they are still around.

 

Your thoughts?

 

Kev

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Where do you live?

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Crows are gathering here in increasing numbers. Feeding on cut hay fields mostly where the hunt grasshoppers mice and such. Once crops mature crows will be into that. August and September offer best opportunities here for big kills. Most have moved on to the south by early October.


Ted

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Mainehunt wrote:

Anybody ever see migration percentages for crows?

 

What got me thinking about this, is that I see and kill more crows in the middle of winter than in the summer up here. Crows are every where right now.

 

I realise that one of the reason is that they are more concentrated and gathered instead of being all spread out. I also know that the guys hunting them south of me see them moving south so obviously some of our crows are migrating south. However, there are tons of crows around here right now. Now, we have no snow at all, but even in years where we have had a lot of snow, they are still around.

 

Your thoughts?

 

Kev

<><


Kev what do you mean by percentage?  Crows migrate in or through New England.  I assume they are coming down from Canada and how far south they go I don't know, some say only as far as MA yet last year North Carolina hunters were saying they had one of their best years ever for the number of crows (very harsh winter).  Living and hunting in Maine you do not get to experience the fall migration of crows your fall season ends well before it starts.  In southern NH the fall migration happens around 10/20 and lasts for about 2 weeks.  Although the NH season runs from 8/15 through 11/30 we shoot 66% of our fall number during that time.  Maine's crow season gives you guys a chance to catch the spring migration north but it is not as intense i.e. more spreadout than the fall migration.



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(I wrote this original post in January of 2012)

Percentage...I mean what percentage migrates, what % stays here for the winter.

Motiondecoy- I live in central Maine. I see and kill far more crows in the winter. I'm sure, as I said in the first post because in winter I see them concentrated on large dairy farms and they aren't spread out nesting.

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In Upstate NY, we get very large winter roosts in and around the small cities with 1000s of birds. The season is from 9/1 until 3/31. I understand that the early season is fun because many of the birds are young, but I have only hunted in the winter. Late summer and fall the birds are in smaller family groups. I believe that we end up with many migrating birds from Canada who find these large roosts and stay through the winter.

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Cornell's Ornithology Lab has some great facts and information about crows (and every other bird) at:

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_crow/lifehistory



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Rook-ie wrote:

Cornell's Ornithology Lab has some great facts and information about crows (and every other bird) at:

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_crow/lifehistory


 Thanks for posting this.



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Explore the Great Backyard Bird Count data here:

gbbc.birdsource.org/gbbcApps/maproom



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I only go by what I learn from observation on crows and what I've gathered over the years on this forum. I will say this tho. I laid in a layout blind in ND last year around the 10th of October and watched thousands of them flying south for hours on end. They were so high they didn't even flare when we shot the ducks n geese coming in. I burnt em good when I got home tho.

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This area just plain s&%ks!(Where I live)
I see the occasional large flock of crows moving through in fall however...but even if i were ready i'd only get one or two. It isn't steady like years ago in the late 70s in western NH...

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Crows don't seem to be particularly affected by the cold-just so long as there is of plenty of food...crows used to hang around here all winter long until the farms dried up..no fresh hot piping manure these days.  It wasn't a particularly large roost but it did hold around 100 birds but that again was years ago until the winter roosts broke up south of here and fleshed out the numbers tripling the locals numbers here. naturally if you are seeing big roosts where you are  it is because birds further north joined your locals . So long as  they can eat they won't go any further than they have to.



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