“It blows your mind. Thousands of them. They just keep rolling in.”  It’s a spectacular display of sight and sound, a massive swarm of as many as 20,000 crows, a sky blotted black by their numbers, a crescendo of cawing that slowly fades to an eerie silence, night closing in.

As it has for at least 30 years, this flock of mostly American crows arrives in Lawrence, Mass. in November, and carries out some of the primordial behaviors that still puzzle the amateur birders and professional ornithologists who study what many of them believe are the world’s most clever and social birds.

What brings these thousands of crows – a mix of residents and seasonal migrants from as far as the St. John’s River in Canada — to places like Lawrence for the winter from November to March?  Why do they stage so massively in the evenings, then fly off together in the dark to roost elsewhere, then scatter in the morning to forage for food as far as 50 miles away, then return to stage and roost for another night?  [Preceding description by Keith Eddings, The Eagle-Tribune]

On Tuesday, February 16^th at 7 p.m., York County Audubon will be delighted to host Dana Duxbury-Fox and Bob Fox, who will share a wealth of information about crows. The Foxes are hardly amateurs. The couple from North Andover have birded worldwide through more than half a century, logging over 6,500 of the world’s 10,000 or so species.  In 2013, Bob co-authored “The Birds of New Hampshire,” a 473-page illustrated book that chronicles all 427 species living in that state.  He helped found Manomet Bird Observatory. Dana has spent 70+ summers in New Hampshire, where she became fascinated by loons. She has long been active in chronicling and protecting bird life.  FMI:  www.wintercrowroost.com

York County Audubon will be presenting this program online. There’s no charge to participate, but you need to register in advance to watch this program. To do so, please click on this link and enter your name and email address:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QQf_HF6ZTW2rjfvry-v9rw

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

We hope you can join us!