As people walk around the campus of Iowa State, they may notice the swarms of crows flying in and settling in the tall trees. Every year this occurs, but why?

The park-like setting of campus along with its high trees and warmer temperature lures the crows in, said David Miller, associate vice president of Facilities Planning and Management.

Miller said cleaning up after the crows is becomes a hassle, and the crows also have a tendency to spook people.

“The school currently has in place five noise makers on rooftops throughout campus,” Miller said.

However the school has to move the noise makers once in awhile; otherwise, the crows become adapted to it.

Lauren Huebbe, junior in elementary education, remembers being a freshman walking past the alarms and being startled.

“I had no idea what that noise was, and it scared me every time,” Huebbe said.

The noise makers are not the only method Iowa State uses to scare the crows. 

“The school also uses lasers that they beam into trees to scare the birds,” Miller said.

He said the purpose of these techniques is so the crows do not become habitual.

Bianca Zaffarano, clinician at the ISU Veterinary Medical Center, has her own opinion about the crows.

“I think they are a really interesting animal,” Zaffarano said. “They are bright creatures. Crows use tools, recognize faces and live in families and even adopt orphaned crows.”

When the West Nile virus entered the United States, it killed thousands of crows, Zaffarano said. Researchers from upstate New York began investigating crows and found that the crows would hang out the dead crows and grieve.

“The crow seen around campus is called the American crow,” Zaffarano said.

This type of crow is actually only one of 46 species of crow worldwide, according the book “In the Company of Crows and Ravens” by John M. Marzluff and Tony Angell.

The American Crow grows up to weigh about one pound, so the large size of the crows is actually normal for this species of crow.

The crow lives about 14 to 24 years, flies between 30 to 60 miles per hour and as many may notice, they eat just about anything, plant or animal.

According to Marzluff and Angell, crows have been represented as good and bad throughout different cultures.

The Acoma, a Native American tribe from central New Mexico, believed that the crow “created the modern world and even saved it from ravaging fires by dipping his wings in water and dropping cooling liquid on the scared earth.” It is because of this heroic act that the crow is black.

Contrary to that, the Pueblo people related the crow to death and bad luck. They believed witches could transform into either crows or owls.

Good or bad, the crows are here. Next time people see a crow, maybe they will stop and watch, and maybe crows will begin to hold a soft spot in their heart, just like Zaffarano.