C.W. McKeen | Syracuse.com file photo

Hungry crows raid a box of garbage in downtown Auburn.

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It's that time of year when American crows are flocking to certain Upstate New York cities to spend each night. In many cases, they roost in the thousands in downtown or other heavily populated areas, causing problems with excessive amounts of feces and loud, obnoxious cawing.

The birds' feces can cover cars, sidewalks, benches -- even landing on the heads of unsuspecting humans.

"There's nothing like getting crow feces all over your car. And God help you if you got some in your vehicle's vents and you have to smell crow all the way home," said Richard Miller, Amsterdam's city engineer.

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A survey by NYup.com of 11 cities where they've come in the past revealed two where U.S. Department of Agriculture (APHIS) staff are ready to take action in the weeks ahead with non-lethal hazing techniques (Rochester and Albany) , another where an independent contractor has been hired to do the same (Watertown) -- and three others in which trained city staff have taken on the responsibility (Auburn, Utica, Amsterdam).

The non-lethal methods include use of pyrotechnics, lasers to spook the birds and noisy crow "distress calls" -- techniques designed to move the birds to other areas nearby where they won't be a problem.

Other communities that have had large winter crow roosts in the past have adopted a "wait and see" attitude with no plans to do anything this winter apart from monitoring the location of the birds, hoping they won't present problems. (Geneva, Syracuse, Cortland, Troy and Ithaca).

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Dennis Nett l dnett@syracuse.com

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Most of the birds are migrants, coming from the northeast in Canada, flying in a south western route across Upstate NY toward winter roosting areas in southwestern Pennsylvania. However, a substantial number are content to cut their travels short and settle in for the cold months around Upstate New York communities. The attraction is the city lights and warm they provide, along with available food, according to Kevin McGowan, an ornithologist from Cornell Lab of Ornothology.

McGowan, who has been studying crows and their behaviors for nearly 30 years, said massive crow roosts are nothing new to Upstate New York. There are reports of them going back more than a century. He and others have monitored their movements in recent years by banding and tagging birds.

He said crows are very social and the local birds often join the migrants in their roosts when they come to town, and sometimes in their late fall, wintry migratory travels.

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McGowan noted crow numbers in recent years have taken a big hit due to the birds' susceptibility to a deadly strain of West Nile Virus, which he estimates nearly halved their numbers, with the biggest die-off occurring last year.

It's unclear at this point whether the overall population has rebounded back.

Auburn during the 1980s, 90s and early 2000s, attracted as many as an estimated 100,000 birds. The phenomenon at that time resulted in National Geographic TV coverage and a short-lived, controversial crow-killing contest that received national attention.

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John Berry l jberry@syracuse.com

Dead crows are lined up behind Spinouts Tavern in Auburn following the 2003 crow shoot in Cayuga County.

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McGowan said communities should think twice about hazing large numbers of crows, particularly if they're roosting in places that don't present a problem for humans.

"They're like an ink spot on a carpet," he said. "You have to be careful what you do. If you start harassing them, they'll spread all over."

The following is a city-by-city breakdown of what's being done this winter by Upstate New York municipalities that have experienced excessive numbers of crows in the past.

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ALBANY

The state's capital this winter will once again use staff from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health inspection Service (APHIS) to conduct non-lethal dispersal of fall and winter roosts, which number in the thousands of birds. Last year, the hazing took place in the areas surrounding Hackett Blvd. and Sheridan Blvd. Methods used included pyrotechnics, spotlights, non-harmful lasers, and recorded crow distress calls that are amplified. Residents will be encouraged to place household trash in containers with lids to discourage crows from feeding -- and to use "bright flashlights to disperse crows roosting in trees,"according to a city press release. Questions? Call 518-268-2280 between at 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

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ROCHESTER

As with Albany. USDA staff will lead the charge against this winter's crow population by using the same three non-lethal techniques. The roost in recent years has numbered in the 20,000- to 30,000-bird range. A big focus on attention in the past has been the downtown's Washington Square Park area. Residents are encouraged to call the city by dialing 311 or 585-428-5990 (outside the city) to report any large groups of crows.

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AUBURN

This city used to be the epicenter of crow problems in Upstate New York, but things have calmed down a bit in recent years. USDA staff have come and gone -- but not before training city staff in their techniques. Mike Talbot, superintendent on public works, said "the crows still come in, but not in as high numbers." Popular roosting spots include along the Owasco Outlet near the prison. City staff are trained in using pyrotechnics, lasers and distress calls and do their thing on second shift. Recent estimates for crow numbers, he said vary from 10,000 to 30,000. "The last few years we've handled them OK," he said.

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Stephen Cannerelli l newyorkupstate.com

Crows flock around the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Auburn.

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WATERTOWN

Geoff Urda, said the city has a three-year contract with Loomacres Wildlife Management, a private firm that supplies crow harassment services similar to the USDA staff. "Each year we try and discern where the roost is. If they're in an acceptable location, we let them stay there," he said. Estimates on crow numbers each winter in the city vary from 15,000 to 20,000 birds. The $5,000 contract with Loomacres calls for up to 10 nights of harassment during the course of a winter. "The last two years, we didn't use all 10," He said the goal is to chase them out of the downtown areas. "We haven't had any complaints (yet) this year," he said.

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UTICA

Dave Short, head of the city's public works and the parks departments, said the crows come each winter. They were really bad about 10 years ago. He said USDA staff came with their non-lethal techniques to haze them and before leaving, trained city staff. Now, city staff get paid overtime "to go out and mess with the crows." He said the birds come every year, but don't stay but a few weeks. When they do come, he said, "it freaks people out as they leave a mess everywhere. It reminds one of an Alfred Hitchcock movie." Past roosting areas include the downtown area, east and south Utica, he said.

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CORTLAND

Chris Bistocchi, superintendent of public works, said the city's crow problem was "real bad in 2003, but since 2014 has dropped considerably by an estimated 75-80 percent. "I feel the migratory pattern has changed -- knock on wood," he said. "The last two winters the crow population has been almost non-existent." He said past gathering places included around the courthouse park area and the downtown. He said the county installed a crow distress call device on top of the courthouse. On the recommendation of the Cornell University experts, city staff hung old CDs from tree branches. "When the light hit the reflective foil, it seemed to deter the crows (from roosting in those areas)," he said. He added there still appears to be a small roost in the south part of town, but it has not been a problem the last couple of years.

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AMSTERDAM

Richard Miller, city engineer, said each winter "we have these guys (crows)." Miller said the birds used to roost in great numbers along the city hall parking lot. And when they started dropping their feces from above "it sounded like rain. It was pretty gross," he said. He said in addition to lasers and pyrotechnics, the city bought crow distress call devices and placed them on top of city hall and down by the post office. "We have three of those machines running right now -- all night. That seems like the best way to handle the sitution,," he said. Last year the birds roosted along the creek that runs through the middle of the city and "up in the cemetery," which makes them much less of a problem.

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GENEVA

Will Czaplak, foreman at the city's waste water treatment plant and public safety office, said Geneva hasn't had a crow problem in about 5 years. He said among the past measures taken was the placement of about 10 plastic owls in various locations around the city to scare the crows in spots where their roosting was causing problems. He said owls are natural predators on crows and the plastic owls were placed at higher vantage points than where the crows roosted --an approach that has "proved effective." He said he was not sure if the plastic owls are still up. "They like the lights and the warmth. Thing is, you never know what year (the crows) will come back." he said.

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ITHACA

McGowan said there have been some small roosts around the community, but they've been scattered and to date have not caused any problems. "Ocassionally they will cluster in the south part of city near the old chain factory, but since nobody uses that property it's no big deal," he said. To his knowledge, the city has never tried to haze them, but Cornell University has had to deal with them "now and then" on its properties. Bottom line, there has been no big concentrated roosts in the city.

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SYRACUSE

The crows come here each year, but to date they haven't caused any problems in populated areas, McGowan said. Typically, they roost around parts of Syracuse University and Upstate Medical Center and south of there -- and can be seen from Route 81. At times, they've roosted on the south shore of Onondaga Lake. The city has not taken any action, he said. "They're only a problem when people get irritated with them," he said.

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Jim Commentucci / The Post-Standard

In this 1996 photo, crows roost in a tree in Onondaga Park.

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TROY

City officials did not respond to several requests by NYup.com for an update on that municipality's crow situation. A 2010 article in the Troy Record noted the city had been using the services of U.S. Department of Agriculture staff for several years who used a combination of pyrotechnics, high-intensity lighting, lasers and amplified distress calls. The USDA staff is not anything this year.

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Michael Greenlar | mgreenlar@syracuse.com

In this 2004 photo, part of the estimated 16,000 crows that inhabited a roost that winter behind the Rennselaer County office building in Troy.

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ORDA/ Whiteface Lake Placid

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