It’s Crow Time! No, It’s Parrot Time!

My wife and I have a ritual most evenings. As the sun sets, we watch hundreds of crows flying west in big flocks. 

“It’s crow time,” we say to each other. “Or is it parrot time?” Because at the same time of day that flocks of crows are heading west, flocks of parrots are heading east. Spastic and insanely noisy flocks of parrots are headed in the opposite direction, usually at a slightly lower altitude, so they don’t collide I suppose. 

The contrast between the two groups heading in opposite directions is striking. The crows flap their wings slowly and gracefully, silent as they go west. One gets a sense that they have been following this evening ritual for thousands of years. The parrots, on the other hand, flap their wings frantically, screaming their shrill calls as they head east. They are newcomers, an introduced species from Mexico, still finding their place in our ecosystem.

So, the crows are heading west and the parrots are heading east. Where are they going and where are they coming from? The crows are heading to roosting areas in trees near Hansen Dam, I’m told. I keep wanting to follow them but haven’t done so yet. They roost in groups of thousands, especially in winter, and will fly up to 40 miles to the communal roosting sites. I’ve seen them pause on their westward flight in CV Park, hundreds of cawing crows gathered in trees there, looking vaguely sinister (thanks, Alfred Hitchcock) before they take flight again en masse. In the morning they will come back to feed in smaller groups across our valley. They will eat almost anything and I’m told that a favorite destination is the Scholl Canyon Landfill.

They are highly intelligent and very social. It’s been proven that they can recognize and remember human faces, even passing that recognition info to their offspring. They have a basic language. They use tools to obtain food. They mate for life and will stay with their parents to help raise siblings. They have even been observed to mourn the death of a flock-mate. They are perhaps the most intelligent of all the birds. 

And the eternal question: is it a crow or a raven? It’s hard to know, but here’s a couple of clues. Ravens are much larger than crows and tend to stay away from urban areas whereas crows are quite comfortable in cities. However, the best way to tell is when they are in flight. Ravens have a wedge-shaped tail that comes to a point while crows’ tails are fan-shaped. And ravens’ wingtip feathers splay out like a hawk’s while crows’ are blunt and rounded.

And the parrots? Where are they going? They are going to Pasadena each evening. Especially in the winter, they gather by the thousands in the trees in front of Pasadena City Hall. I was lucky enough to see this gathering a couple of times this winter. Standing on the sidewalk, my wife and I watched as noisy groups of up to a hundred flew in from all directions, circling and then landing in the trees until the branches were bending with their weight. It’s complete pandemonium in the trees as they shift places back and forth looking for just the right spot and the right companions to sleep next to for the night. As the parrots gather they scream at one another at an incredible volume, getting louder and louder as more join them. It’s almost deafening. As darkness descends, they begin to slowly quiet down and finally at full dark they are silent and invisible.

In the morning the ritual is repeated in reverse. They get louder as the light comes and they begin to fly off in groups, many of them heading back to La Cañada and La Crescenta to noisily feed on the many fruit trees in people’s yards.

So join me and my wife’s sunset ritual of watching the daily migration of crows heading west and parrots heading east. 

“It’s crow time! No, it’s parrot time!” Actually, it’s both.