Expert Says Crows In Shadyside, Oakland Pose No Danger, But Are Quite The Nuisance
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Thousands of crows have descended on the city's Oakland and Shadyside neighborhoods, and the people who live there have started to notice.
"I saw them," said Suzy Clark, of Shadyside. "There were so many, it was frightening, I thought."
They can make quite the racket.
KDKA's David Highfield shot some video of them and showed it to the National Aviary's ornithologist Bob Mulvihill. He says in recent decades, crows have begun roosting in the city at this time of year. Getting together every evening.
"They're grouping together, they're searching for food, they're roosting together," said Mulvihill.
The classic Hitchcock thriller, "The Birds," does come to mind.
"I thought right away, Alfred Hitchcock, I don't know," said Clark.
But, Mulvihill says even though a group of crows is called a murder, he adds that they don't pose any danger to people. However, they can cause quite the mess.
"They've been eating all day, and after animals eat… something happens," said Mulvihill.
Bird droppings can be a nuisance.
Muvahill says some of the crows we're seeing are from Canada, spending their winter here, much the way some retirees from our area winter in Florida.
Muvahill: "We are south enough."
Highfield: "This feels tropical to them?"
Muvahill: "This is tropical enough."
Expect the crows to hang around all winter long.
