Why are there so many crows in my New Orleans neighborhood? Curious Louisiana investigates.

For Susan Johanson of Bucktown, morning is a time to sip coffee on the deck and listen to the birds sing.

The loud, raspy cawing of crows is not what she has in mind. Yet lately, it seems like that’s all Johanson and her neighbors can hear.

“Can you tell us why there are so many crows in our area?” she wrote. “We cannot hear birdsong in the morning due to their ruckus! I have lived in Bucktown for 44 years and over the last three years, crows have taken over. Why?”

For an answer to this question, we turned to Peter H. Yaukey, Ph.D., departmental chair of biological and physical sciences and professor of biology at the University of Holy Cross. 

Yaukey leads monthly birding expeditions in the Lower 9th Ward’s Sankofa Wetland Park and periodically for the Orleans Audubon Society and Woodlands Conservancy. The free treks, which are open to the public and sponsored by the Louisiana Board of Regents’ Speaking of Science program, give him plenty of opportunity to observe winged wildlife in our area.

Two species of crows are native to the New Orleans area, Yaukey said. They’re mainly distinguishable by their call. The American Crow gives the classic “caw,” whereas the Fish Crow’s voice is typically more nasal and shorter, and more commonly sounds like a double “ah ah.”

Crows nest in early spring, Yaukey said, and by summer the chicks are typically fledged, meaning they are able to fly. Families consisting of four to five crows are commonplace around the city. 

According to Yaukey, there is no evidence that the population of crows is increasing overall in New Orleans. But there may be reasons why there are more in one area.

“Crows sometimes gather in the hundreds or thousands for sleeping, as happens regularly nightly in the Lafayette Square area,” downtown between St. Charles Avenue and Camp Street, he said.

So in Johanson’s case, “A nocturnal roost might have developed in her area,” he said. “These birds might arrive early or depart late and thus be around in daylight. Or a pair of crows may have nested nearby, and the parents and fledged young are now hanging out around her house.”

In summer, such crow families can be noisy and intrusive, following people and pets and cawing at them in mild alarm, he said.

“A single family of crows can be noisy or conspicuous,” the professor said. “I’ve had crow families that would literally follow me down the street and caw at me.”

Birders expect to see crows in a wide range of habitats, including farms and forests. “They are quite comfortable with urban environments,” Yaukey said. And, he added, they are notably intelligent among birds.

Johanson said she feeds a feral cat on her deck, and the crows don’t seem to be afraid of people. “If I leave the food out, they are right there,” she said. She’s also seen crows forage in the recycling bins, dragging containers onto the grass to peck for forgotten bits of food.

A neighbor got so tired of the ruckus, she would go outside and bang a spoon on a pot to shoo the big birds away.

But others might be more welcoming, as Johanson discovered in a neighborhood NextDoor conversation online. 

“There’s a woman a couple streets down from me who makes them scrambled eggs every morning,” Johanson said. “No wonder they’re around! They’re getting brunch every day.” 

Curious Louisiana is a community-driven reporting project that connects readers to our newsrooms’ resources to dig, research and find answers about the Pelican State. Bottom line: If you’ve got a question about something Louisiana-centric, click here to ask us or email us at curiouslouisiana@theadvocate.com.