Vancouver’s landscape would be radically different without its resident crow population.

Known for their remarkable black feathers, strange spirits, and noisy displays, blackbirds thrive among humans in the densest urban environments.

While other birds were driven out of cities, crow populations increased with human development.

Professor John M. Marzluff of the University of Washington has worked extensively with the corvids of the Pacific Northwest, specializing in all things related to ravens, crows and jays.

Marzulff is interested in both how humans affect birds and how birds affect humans. He studied the impact of humans on bird populations due to increasing urbanization and the influence of crows on art and language.

When asked what makes Metro Vancouver’s crows different from those south of the border, he says, “Not much.”

Crows in the Pacific Northwest look and behave quite similarly in major cities like Portland, Vancouver, and Seattle. However, there are several species of crows in North America, which means that crows in Tennessee will act and sound a little different than those in your resident.

The raven native to the Pacific Northwest, the northwestern raven, lives west of the Rocky Mountains, extending south to Los Angeles. Other species include the American Crow and the Fish Crow.

Marzluff says ravens have larger populations in the Pacific Northwest and their relationships with people go back throughout history. Indigenous peoples had a close relationship with corvids, recognizing their great intelligence for thousands of years.

Why do almost all of Vancouver’s crows roost in Burnaby?

The city’s resident crow population descends on Burnaby every evening as soon as it begins to get dark, resulting in a wave of dark birds crossing the eastbound sky.

However, crows do not operate as an inseparable flock at all times of the day.

Crows and crows mate for life, although they will “remarry” if their partner dies. When in pairs, crows tend to mate, raise their young, and fiercely defend their territories (something most locals have probably heard in the spring).

During this time, crows are known to engage in their famous “swoops” – a defensive behavior used to ward off potential predators from their nests. Although they can harm humans, they do not try to “attack” them. Instead, they hope to deter people from the area where the baby birds fall as they fight off the first flight attempts.

Locals generally only gather for practical reasons, including feeding, roasting, and socializing. They’re not exactly a “cohesive, integrated” herd, Marzluff notes.

Nonetheless, most crows in Metro Vancouver will remain loyal to the area. Likewise, most of Seattle’s crows don’t head north.

Burnaby sees thousands of crows flying every night from Vancouver

The roosting area near Still Creek in Burnaby hosts more than 10,000 crows each night, providing its returning birds with a safe place to sleep; an individual can alert others of a potential threat. The birds disperse as the sun rises, venturing from the colony to various locations in search of food.

Vancouver is also home to the largest member of the Corvidae family, the raven. These remarkable birds have thick beaks and are about the size of a red-tailed hawk, one of the crow’s main predators. They also have distinct voices and a huge four-foot wingspan. As such, crows can also attack crows, due to their size, Marzluff explains.

But crows don’t appear often in Vancouver; a group of crows may attack a solitary individual. Additionally, crows need more space for their territory.

Crows possess an astonishing intellectual capacity, capable of recognizing faces and solving multi-step puzzles.

Vancouver’s beloved Canuck the Ravenwho “stole” a knife from a local crime scene and befriended a human, was named the city’s unofficial ambassador in the 2018 CBC public vote.

“The crows really seem to pay attention to us,” he comments. “The fact that they have expanded significantly in the last 50 years is close to the growth of the human population.

“By removing large forests, we created a mix of habitats more suitable for crows. They are not dense forest species.

“They have very large brains for their size and they are well adapted to living with us.”