SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — Having recently forced Charlottetown to surrender, Island crows might be moving to conquer Summerside next.
There are anecdotal reports of a larger than normal flock of crows (also called a murder) in Summerside this winter. The birds can frequently be found hanging around Leger Park in the evenings and various other places in the city and on the bay ice during the day.
Social media posts showing areas dotted black with the feathered creatures, and the mess they leave behind, have started popping up as well.
Coun. Norma McColeman recently brought up the issue during a city council meeting, saying some residents in the downtown had asked her if anything could, or should, be done about the birds.
McColeman has been on council for about 18 years and this is the first time she has received a complaint about crows.
"I think people have tolerance if it's not great big crowds or murders of crows, but when it gets to be really high numbers like that it does become a problem because of their droppings and the noise, their cawing in the very early morning," said McColeman.
Stephen Hurst lives on Convent Street and reached out to McColeman after the crows spent several evenings in late February, roosting in the large trees on his property and those of his neighbours.
He and his wife Janet-Rose have lived in the same home for 27 years and have never had problems with crows before. They have been around, he said, but never in the numbers they saw this year.
The mess of excrement they left behind was incredible, he added, and the noise was so bad he had to wear earplugs just to sleep at night.
"My big worry when I sent the email to Norma was that the crows had found a new area where they want to be because their old area became unacceptable to them. Predators moved in or something – something aggravated those birds," said Hurst.
Fortunately for that neighbourhood, the murder only hung around for about a week and has not been back since.
Meanwhile, council has tasked the city's arbourist Trent Williams, with looking into what other municipalities have done to deal with their crow populations, and learn if it's advisable or even possible to try and do anything about them.
Williams said his preliminary research has shown other communities have tried various tactics to discourage crows from congregating, only for the birds to just settle in another.
Charlottetown has tried for years to deal with its crow problem, including offering noise-making 'howlers' to residents, but nothing has had any measurable success.
They are remarkably intelligent, adaptable and social creatures that can play an important environmental role by controlling pests and eating dead animals, said Williams.
Ultimately, it will be up to council whether it wants to pursue the matter further, he added.
Brian and Eleanor MacDonald live on Maple Avenue and recently snapped photos of hundreds of crows hanging out in the evening around the water features in Leger Park, off nearby Central Street.
"It was remarkable," said Eleanor.
"I've never seen so many in one area and on the ground. That place was just black with them."
Brian added that the birds have traditionally roosted near their home, in the woods and trees around St. Paul's Cemetery, but he's noticed them showing up in new territories this year.
"They're in the same neighbourhood, they've just relocated to different areas," he said.
He theorized that post-tropical storm Dorian, and the tremendous damage it caused to Summerside's urban forest, might have disturbed the flock from its usual roosting grounds.
In the absence of any scientific data, it is a good theory, concurred Garry Gregory, a provincial wildlife biologist.
"I know Summerside lost of a lot of big hardwoods during the storm, so it's certainly possible those included roost trees, so the crows have moved along to find alternative roost sites," said Gregory.
Crows are social birds, he added, and while they typically disperse into small family groups in the spring and summer, they gather together in large murders, often in urban old-growth hardwoods, for much of the winter.
Peggy Miles also lives near Leger Park and the crows recently made a big mess of her deck, siding and doorway with their feces.
It's annoying, she said, but she's used to having the birds nearby, so overall she is taking a live-and-let-live attitude with her feathered neighbours.
"Sure it's an inconvenience when they make a mess, but I'm happy to live in harmony with them. They're a very fascinating creature," said Miles.
