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You could almost call Seattle "Crow City" instead of Jet City or Emerald City, there are so many crows about. But this one, spotted in Belltown, is special. I hadn't spotting a banded crow since last summer in the Central District. I had photographed a crow which was sitting on a roof. It wasn't until I uploaded the photo that I noticed colorful leg bands. I Googled "crow Seattle leg band" and found out about an ongoing University of Washington study. If you ever spot a banded crow, UW researchers ask observers to pay attention to the colors and placement of bands on each leg and to report the info via their website. These crows were caught as babies, banded, and released. They are studied for their movement and for disease research.
4 comments:
Crows are not my favorite bird, but this one caught my eye. You photographed it beautifully and added some important info. What are they studying with the crows?
Kate,
Thank you very much! As I understand it, if someone discovers any dead birds in our area, they are to report it to the authorities to monitor for West Nile Virus. If these banded crows turn up with it, there will be valuable information from the UW study on how it is spread and in what quadrants of the city it might be breaking out. . .there is no outbreak here so far, thank goodness. I don't know if "bird flu" is a problem outside poultry farming and migratory birds, but if it is a concern, I'm sure that would be monitored as well. Basically I think they study birds and vector-born desease, as well as crow "society" and range of habitat.
-Kim
This is a cool close-up! You've "caught" a special bird!
Cool shot!
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