Here's Why So Many Crow Murders Are Invading Streets in Buffalo

Many Buffalo residents have noticed an increase in murders of crows lately. Just for clarity, groups of crows aren't called flocks, they are ominously called "murders." Quite a few people on Reddit have complained about th recent influx of crows, particularly on Linwood Avenue and Elmwood Villiage in Buffalo.

According to MyBackYardLife.com, crows like the cold weather, which we have plenty of here in Western New York,

They are incredibly social animals, and they tend to roost in many places across the city during the longer winters. Crows that generally thrive in colder places are likely to migrate and join other crows that live in nearby areas.

According to some of the Reddit crow experts, here's why they have been hanging around lately,

@Parm_it_all says,

Crows change their behavior in winter, forming large flocks so that they can look for mates, stay warm, and otherwise outlast winter by sharing news about food and so forth. In the mating season/ warmer months, all the crows you're seeing will be dispersed throughout the region again--they'll be back to living in smaller family units made up of a few adults, their nestlings, and maybe a juvenile from a prior year (an adolescent who doesn't yet have a mate if its own will stay with the family). Within the City of Buffalo, crows seem to favor the Forest Lawn area/your neighborhood, although Tifft is also a popular roosting area. Probably depends somewhat on food sources but a large part is habit.

@cheesemcnab suggests there could have been a death that caused the congregation,·

It's also possible that it's a crow funeral. Crows are known to gather in large numbers when there's been a death.

@FrenchGray says the increase in murders is an anual thing,

I live on Linwood and have for a few years—there’s a huge flock of hundreds of crows that moves from the cemetery south every afternoon starting around 4ish. They move back to the cemetery early every morning. It’s awesome! It happens every winter.

Some residents find it pretty creepy to be surounded by so many crows,

@YourMrFahrenheit says,

It’s a cool but eerie place to go for a run very early in the morning in winter. I run before sunrise and I run Linwood a lot for safety reasons, but damn it’s creepy the first time you hear those crows and you’re not used to it.

@fulltime-sagittarius agrees,

We just moved to the area and this is happening since November haha. It is super unique experience, even if it is creepy sometimes because they are so many haha

Whether your a fan or murders or not, just know that if you see them in your area, you're porbably going to have to get your car washed more often!