An article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says that recent Audubon Christmas Bird Count figures indicate that the American crow population in Illinois may be back to its pre-West Nile Virus level and is returning to normal in Missouri.

Crows were particularly susceptible to West Nile Virus and populations across the country dipped about 10 years ago as the virus swept across the country.

Read the St. Louis Post-Dispatch article here.

If you are trying to sneak up on some crows to do research on them or near them, a recent paper in the journal Ethology has some tips: crows can tell where you are looking, but they can’t read your facial expression. So smiling as you approach isn’t going to help, but looking the other way just might.

Read the article in the journal of Ethology here. (Fee or subscription required.)

Photo by David Herr, courtesy of US Forest Service