Readers Respond to the Thousands of Crows Roosting in Downtown Portland Trees and Rooftops

“BEAUTIFUL intelligent creatures. They are just seeking warmth on those cold winter nights.”

Gary Granger. IMAGE: Courtesy of Gary Granger.
By WW Staff

Last week, WW wrote about Gary Granger, a Portlander who roams the streets at night, counting the thousands of crows roosting in the trees and rooftops above downtown ("Hotseat: Gary Granger," WW, Dec. 11, 2019). An increasing number of crows have chosen to spend their winter months in Portland. And Granger, a co-founder of the volunteer group PDX Crow Roost, aims to recast Portland's hostile relationship with the bird. Here's what readers think.

Karen Lafranchise, via Facebook: "I know they're smart, but I'm not crazy about them."

Kattalinna Ellerby, via Facebook: "BEAUTIFUL intelligent creatures. They are just seeking warmth on those cold winter nights."

GerMart, via wweek.com: "I don't find crows to be a particularly pleasing creature to have around. The solution to the nighttime roosting problem is quite simple: just start shooting them with a BB gun whenever they congregate in mass numbers downtown."

Lisa M. Leslie, via Facebook: "Watching them all fly into downtown is fascinating! They are amazingly intelligent and social birds. They deserve more appreciation and protection."

Nicola, via Twitter: "They're a great alarm clock and start cawing around 5:30 am!"

Tweet Potato, in response: "Sounds great."

Saymwah, via wweek.com: "People should just leave the crows alone and worry about real problems."

Jackie Dean, via Facebook: "I saw a massacre of crows at the park by my house the other day. So much more than a murder."

Martin Boyce, via Facebook: "I left Portland in 1998, and as far as I remember, downtown Portland was ruled by the pigeon. Twenty years later, the crows rule."

Paul Gardner Allen, via wweek.com: "My own personal crow experiences in Portland are strange, unsettling, disgusting and, yeah, maybe a little wonderful."

Charity Fain, via Facebook: "I love watching them every winter. It's special. Just leave them alone!"

Jim Stinnett, via Facebook: "The city can't clean up all the crow crap fast enough. It's really bad in certain areas and really slick if you're not paying attention."

Rodney Paris, via Facebook: "Counting crows? Sounds like a long December."

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.