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- Written by Clyde McMillan-Gamber Clyde McMillan-Gamber
Late in the afternoon one day this past November, noisy multitudes of American crows and Canada geese were on a short-grass lawn behind a local shopping mall.
The crows were gathering on that lawn prior to going to roost for the night, while the geese were nibbling the grass.
At that same time, successive flocks of loudly bugling Canada geese, in tight strings and V’s, powered off a nearby pond and landed into the wind among their fellows on the lawn, while loose sheets of crows poured low over the pond and lawn, heading west.
Meanwhile, other groups of honking geese lifted off the short grass and flew out of sight. All those airborne crows and geese were beautifully silhouetted before the striking sunset.
And together the birds created exciting, inspiring natural spectacles in a human-made habitat where people wouldn’t expect them to be.
As time progressed, succeeding floods of crows from all directions became ever larger, noisier, and more dramatic as they flowed over the shopping center. Meanwhile, still other crows were perched on the buildings of that mall and on its parking lots and trees.
Again, the crows and Canada geese together were a wild sight in a built habitat as the sun set and darkness deepened. Wildlife in human-made habitats make those habitats part of the wild.
Being adaptable enough to take advantage of human-made habitats, for several years thousands of wintering crows and hundreds of wintering Canada geese have roosted each winter night from early November to mid-March among area shopping malls.
In this instance, some of the geese are permanent residents of the nearby pond, while the crows raised young in forests in Canada.
But both species became accustomed to traffic, lights, and people on their wintering grounds and learned to benefit from a little extra heat from the sun-heated blacktop parking lots, buildings, vehicles, and lights.
Plus, those birds enjoy wind breaks from the buildings and safety from predators and people shooting at them.
Wintering American crows and Canada geese consume corn kernels lying in harvested cornfields. But crows also ingest acorns off lawns, dead animals on roads, and edible garbage from garbage cans, dumpsters, and landfills. Geese also eat short grass on lawns, as stated earlier, and aquatic vegetation.
Wildlife is always exciting and inspiring to experience, including in human-made habitats. And great numbers of certain species create wonderful pageantry. Beauties and intrigues in nature are where you find them.