Bangor, Maine is the Current Winter Home to Thousands of Crows

Crows can be spooky.

I remember probably 20+ years ago, I was living with my girlfriend at the time. We were having some discussion about whatever, and she was headed outside to smoke. When she opened the door and stepped out, she immediately stepped back in again, slamming the door behind here. She looked completely confused/scared.

She told me that just outside our door, there were hundreds of crows perched in the small tree just outside. I had to look, because I assumed if she said hundreds, it was probably more like 20. But sure enough, I poked my head out the door and there had to be 500+ crows in a tiny maple tree that looked like it had giant black leaves. Within an hour or so, they left. And never again had I seen anything like it. Until recently...

There are crows everywhere in Bangor right now.

And I don't mean dozens. People on social media have been noticing more and more that there are huge flocks, which most folks know are called murders, flying around Bangor and roosting in trees. Like my account from years ago, it is super creepy and bizarre to see them gather up in such huge numbers.

We're all used to seeing two or three crows picking away at some road kill, but rarely have we seen 2,000 at time. But it's becoming a more frequent sight around town, according to the BDN. What's more interesting, is that as bizarre a thing as it might be to see, the reasons it's happening are quite logical.

There's plenty of food, and very few predators around downtown Bangor.

Crows have one main predator... Great-Horned Owls. And while you may see one around downtown from time to time, they aren't the norm. And let's face it, when you're a bird that makes many of it meals off small rodents, roadkill, and trash... There's plenty of food around Bangor.

You can also add that crows are having a bit of a population boom, after suffering some loss to West Nile Virus over the last few years. And frankly, people have just left them alone more. They're a protected bird now, after being hunted as pests for years. You add all these things together, and Bangor is the prefect winter home. All you need for proof, is to look around. You'll find all the crows you want.

We've had plenty of feelings about snow this year. Let's share a few more...