March 29, 2009 - Crow Construction

Welcome to the Nature Notebook.

Watch a crow this time of year and you might notice it snapping twigs from branches or picking up larger sticks. It carries these away to a secluded tree where its two-foot nest is under construction. An outer stick structure forms the foundation for a cup of softer material. Both male and female crows build the nest, often aided by “helpers,” the young from the previous year. Crows seldom reuse a nest, but build the new one close to the old in the territory claimed by the crow family. During nest construction, crows are often secretive, approaching the nest location quietly and cautiously, often by a circuitous route to prevent detection. During the nesting time crows also tend to be much less vocal than usual. All good strategies to protect their nest from potential intruders.

This is PPL's naturalist, Jon Beam, with the Nature Notebook for WVIA.