The American Crow may be the smartest bird on this list — a glossy black generalist that recognizes individual human faces, holds grudges for years, posts sentries while flocks feed, and solves multi-step problems in lab tests that stump primates. Their "caw" is only the headline of a rich vocabulary of rattles, coos, and clicks.
Michigan crows live in extended families — young from previous years help feed new nestlings — and in winter they gather into communal roosts that can number in the tens of thousands, often in brightly lit city centers where warmth and safety from Great Horned Owls come free. West Nile virus hit crows hard in the early 2000s, but populations have largely weathered it.
Practically everything: waste grain, insects, earthworms, fruit, carrion, roadside scraps, and — the habit that vexes other birds — eggs and nestlings in season. Crows also cache surplus food and remember where.
Yes — landmark studies showed crows recognize and scold individual "dangerous" humans for years, and even teach their young the grudge. Feed one peanuts instead and you may acquire a polite escort.
Communal roosting: city centers are a few degrees warmer, well lit (which helps them spot owls, their main night predator), and full of safe big trees. Families commute in from miles around at dusk.
They're driving a predator — usually a hawk or Great Horned Owl — out of the area. Following the racket is one of the best ways to find owls in daytime.
They are. Numbers stay fairly steady from month to month, and the birds do not leave the state, though individuals shift around locally between nesting cover, woodlots, and feeders as food supplies change.
Juveniles have blue-gray eyes rather than the adult's dark brown, a pink gape at the corner of the bill, and duller, browner feathers. They also beg loudly with a nasal call and often stay with their parents for years, helping raise later broods.
The term comes from a 15th-century book of hunting terms, not from anything the birds do, and no ornithologist uses it. What crows actually form are winter roosts — communal night gatherings that in some Michigan cities run to thousands of birds arriving from many miles away.
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