Quantcast
breaking news

Crow population drops in Danville

Updated: January 10, 2013
watch video
DANVILLE -- The city of Danville has been a popular gathering place for crows, but this winter, birdwatchers noticed something strange.
A lot of those birds have disappeared. 
"As the months rolled on, people weren't complaining as much about the crows," said Mary Jane Easterday with the Middlefork Audubon Society. Families have complained about the noise and droppings the birds left behind for years. 
But this year, Audubon says the crow population has dropped by more than half. The group conducts an annual Christmas bird count. They estimate there are a little over 121,000 crows roosting in Danville this year. Past numbers were as high as 250,000. 
"It's probably been affected by the drought," said Steve Bailey with the Illinois Natural History Survey. Bailey says the dry conditions means less fruits and nuts, plus less animals that eat those things as well. Crows are omnivores so their food supply has dwindled as well. "There isn't much of everything the crow eat."
Experts also think West Nile may have played a role in the unexpected drop. A dead crow near the Chicago area tested positive for that virus a few months back. Experts say they're not certain what's behind the decreasing numbers; they don't know where the birds have headed to either.
Easterday says she's called a number of Audubon groups in Central Illinois. All report little to no fluctuations in their crow population.

Comments

Log in to comment on this article

Readers Feel...

hello
Related Content

The forecast for the next few hours....

MONTICELLO-A woman is using her artistic skills to help ot...

ILLINOIS -- The amount of bullets a gun carries might be regulated....

URBANA -- New developments could be on the horizon, including a couple of multi-million dollar projects. Those could happen in the area off Cunningham Avenue north of Highway 74. ...

ILLINOIS -- A jackpot winning ticket was sold for last night's Powerball drawing, but it didn't come from our state....

SPRINGFIELD -- Education leaders are hoping to get more money for schools, they say districts are getting shortchanged....

DANVILLE -- Some TV stars stopped in central Illinios to show their support for charity. ...

CHAMPAIGN COUNTY -- Volunteers are getting ready for a huge sale to benefit the Champaign County Humane Society. ...

SPRINGFIELD -- Lawmakers have a lot to tackle before session ends, like figuring out what to do with concealed carry....

SPRINGFIELD -- A bill legalizing medical marijuana, made its way through the Senate, and now heads off to Governor Quinn's desk....

 
More From WCIA News
Start
4391439243934394439543964397439843994400
End
      Page 4398 of 4603
 
Connect with ciLiving

 
 
 
©1998 - 2013 Illinoishomepage.net
Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.
All Rights Reserved