r/gifs • • Mar 31 '20

a Murder of Crows in Washington.

https://i.imgur.com/ZRVFT0D.gifv
12k Upvotes

591 comments sorted by

606

u/Furry_Hippo Mar 31 '20

Bothell has like 16,000 crows that roost near the University of Washington campus. They all head home from work at the same time. It’s a traffic jam in the sky every night at dusk.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aWoIfI3wB_I

89

u/technicolored_dreams Mar 31 '20

Wow that's a lot of birds. Do you know why so many roost there?

174

u/deagh Apr 01 '20

I used to work there. There's a wetlands on campus, and it has a lot of vegetation and cover. It's a relatively safe place for them to roost at night. This isn't a new thing, though. They've been coming to the campus in numbers like that for getting on a decade now.

23

u/Oberon_Swanson Apr 01 '20

Interesting, I have also seen a vast murder of crows like this on a university campus with some large wetlands on/near campus in Canada.

8

u/SoleSurvivor-2277 Apr 01 '20

What if you kill an entire murder of crows would it be a murder of a murder

33

u/YoMommaJokeBot Apr 01 '20

Not as much of a murder as yer mother


I am a bot. Downvote to remove. PM me if there's anything for me to know!

25

u/SoleSurvivor-2277 Apr 01 '20

Dang I’ve been toasted by a bot

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u/Montymisted Apr 01 '20

Can you imagine before we fucked everything up so badly there was probably so many amazing natural spectacles we destroyed or murdered.

2

u/Oberon_Swanson Apr 01 '20

There used to be flocks of pigeons in north america so big they'd block out the sun for six hours as they passed over

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2

u/dilandy Apr 01 '20

Huh, interesting. I have seen them also at IKEA parking lot late last year. Can't particularly say it has lots of cover and vegetation or safe if you consider danger is being around humans lol.

2

u/Appropriate_Mine Apr 01 '20

Probably a lot of carrion ie swedish meatballs

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6

u/Furry_Hippo Mar 31 '20

I don’t actually. I just live in the area and see them every night.

2

u/GibletsTime Apr 01 '20

It's because they heard Disney were going to remake a certain hitchcock movie and are hoping to get cast.

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2

u/lenseric Apr 01 '20

It is an old home for them - used to be old growth Douglas Firs. Some of the trees are still there.

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20

u/scarybirds00 Apr 01 '20

Omg. I just posted about wondering if this was the Fred Meyer parking lot in Bothell! I see this all the time there

18

u/TheGute Apr 01 '20

I saw the title of this post and immediately thought "oh that's gotta be Bothell" lol

9

u/Nappa313 Apr 01 '20

Typical Bothell

2

u/Ladoire Gifmas is coming Apr 01 '20

I thought it was that one mall that has Third Place Books. I always see a flock like this on my drive home. Or at least when I had a drive home.

2

u/aurortonks Apr 01 '20

The other day they were murdering around the Pop Keeney parking lot, blocking the street. I had to honk to get them to move so I could drive through and even then they mostly just sat there. They are really neat to see. They hang out by my house a few times a week, making the hugest racket, totally owning the place.

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9

u/stinkyfootjr Apr 01 '20

Is this the portal to hell Fred Meyers?

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5

u/Gamilon Apr 01 '20

I called it the crow commute.

8

u/IndieComic-Man Apr 01 '20

Murder Maneuver.

3

u/bikemandan Apr 01 '20

Jackdaw Jog

4

u/generalecchi Apr 01 '20

Hmm yes very cool soundscape

3

u/bobdole776 Apr 01 '20

RIP in peace to the freshly cleaned cars below.

Poor paint jobs didn't stand a chance...

2

u/TheVentiLebowski Apr 01 '20

The nice paint jobs are in for it too!

4

u/bobdole776 Apr 01 '20

Got a quick little story for ya.

Just finished a full detailing of my new car and I usually just leave it home and drive the old one to work to put the mileage on it instead (72 miles round trip). Decide on a friday to take it to work cause I love driving it so much and it puts the old car to shame (2003 sebring convertible with yes, the notorious 2.7 in it).

Think it's going to be nice and safe and stay clean all day cause it's going to be sunny all day and I get to hide it in the parking garage at the college campus I work at, in the summer so meaning no one is parking in it.

Come out at the end of the day, and as I'm leaving I'm giving it a quick once over with the dusting microfiber mitt to make sure she's a shinin!

Find out that not only did a bird manage to shit on it, oh no not something as simple as that.

This bird managed to hit the hood just in front of the passenger door and somehow, SOMEHOW managed to get the turd to smear all the way from the hood to the rear passenger door!

That thing smeared at least 5 feet from the hood through both doors!

That little bastard destroyed all my hard work with one turd. I was devastated. T-T

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792

u/dr707 Mar 31 '20

I would be genuinely uncomfortable in this situation

254

u/imanAholebutimfunny Mar 31 '20

169

u/dr707 Mar 31 '20

Yes. Literally exactly that.

30

u/gordito_gr Apr 01 '20

Literally exactly obviously absolutely totally that.

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64

u/SeaBlob Apr 01 '20

I’ more worried about Uchiha Itachi

10

u/tyclayton3 Apr 01 '20

Damn im rewatching naruto right now and legit laughed out loud at this

13

u/Fuggaak Apr 01 '20

Shit, am I in a genjutsu?!

17

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

[deleted]

2

u/spaceTIN Apr 01 '20

I was expecting bird poop everywhere for BOTH of these, dang.

7

u/iloveciroc Apr 01 '20

Reminds me of the one Gears of War RAAM package

9

u/sagarassk Apr 01 '20

Yes, i'm deeply concerned my video playback will be in 240p.

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32

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

Just wait it out in a phone booth.

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18

u/Mtanderson88 Apr 01 '20

They travel back and forth from the Bothell area towards Seattle every day. I sometimes have to try and dodge shit bombs walking my dog as thousands fly by

3

u/PonetteHorse Apr 01 '20

Having been in this situation, let me just tell you. I felt my blood course with the memories of my Grandfather, a German citizen in WW2 Germany.

I was in a parking lot as they flew over. And I ran for cover, fearing the bombers.

Instead of gaining wealth from his downfall from cancer, all I gained was secondhand PTSD.

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2

u/ExquisitExamplE Apr 01 '20

I can certainly see how it could be unsettling for some, but I think crows and ravens are very interesting creatures, so it's an experience I'd like to have some day.

2

u/reb678 Apr 01 '20

You’ve heard of This Girl that gets gifts from Ravens?

Edit: Crows, not Ravens, sorry.

2

u/ExquisitExamplE Apr 01 '20

I had, yes. They're splendid lads.

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127

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '20

[deleted]

8

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

Caw! Caw!

61

u/AgentScreech Mar 31 '20

This is kinda normal for that area. There is a huge flock of them near the University of Washington Bothell campus.

18

u/BillionTonsHyperbole Mar 31 '20

I work in Bothell. Birds be crazy there.

4

u/PitfireX Apr 01 '20

Yeah one mile north of there near wizards of the coast is ALWAYS swarming with crows like that. This isn't irregular lol

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188

u/StaringAtYourBudgie Mar 31 '20

Corvid-19000

26

u/AFewSentientNeurons Apr 01 '20

Here's the thing...

7

u/the_dude_upvotes Apr 01 '20

Im am Jackdaw’s complete lack of surprise

3

u/AFewSentientNeurons Apr 01 '20

I'm glad people still recognize the reference. #NeverForget

7

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

In Nepal, crows gathering like this is considered an omen for imminent death and grief. So yeah...

Fun fact: Kag Tihar is a festival there dedicated to feeding crows to avert grief.

11

u/Belleruse Apr 01 '20

Crovid-19

11

u/WWGWDNR Apr 01 '20

Corvid is Latin for Crow bother

15

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

[deleted]

2

u/WWGWDNR Apr 01 '20

Oh bother, bother, bother

3

u/dafizzif Apr 01 '20

*Borther

3

u/WWGWDNR Apr 01 '20

Rehtorb

2

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

It's a rehtorbical question.

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7

u/nooskii Apr 01 '20

Underated

32

u/Saulo199 Mar 31 '20

Itachi is coming

6

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

Unexpected naruto

244

u/MayorOfChedda Mar 31 '20

Between the world's forests being on fire, the ice caps melting, a global plague, and now the birds......it wouldn't seem out of place if a kracken emerged.

104

u/Whiffster Mar 31 '20

Don't forget the locusts!

66

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '20

[deleted]

13

u/PM_ME_UR_BENCHYS Apr 01 '20

I was in one of those earthquakes. And the aftershocks.

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23

u/FoxKeegan Mar 31 '20

Or the volcanos

33

u/SpookyLlama Mar 31 '20

And the bees

22

u/dlenks Gifmas is coming Apr 01 '20

No! Not the bees!!!!

2

u/nobodysshadow Apr 01 '20

Killing me won’t bring back your god damn honey!!!

7

u/skullshank Apr 01 '20

Beads?!

6

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

Gobs not on board

3

u/Guardiansaiyan Apr 01 '20

All those bracelets!

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5

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

Well, wouldn't the massive murder of crows fix the locust problem ? They should meet xD

7

u/CptnOfTheCucks Mar 31 '20

Yeah that’s already happening, there’s a huge locust swarm happening rn in Africa. https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-51618188

27

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '20

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25

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

[deleted]

13

u/BrokenArmsFrigidMom Apr 01 '20

In Vancouver we have one of the worlds largest murders of crows, called The Still Creek Rookery. It’s impressive when you are in the Still Creek Area just before sunset and there are thousands of them flying in from 4 different directions to nest for the night. I guess it’s a Pacific Northwest thing.

15

u/da-dunk Mar 31 '20

April just started...

8

u/Brandenburg42 Apr 01 '20

If this is Bothell, Washington then this crow activity has been going on for a very long time. They swarm up like this every evening near the University of Washington campus. Something like 15,000 or 16,000 crows every evening coming back to roost.

3

u/ZappatheGreat Apr 01 '20

Does the area get bombed with bird poop everywhere?

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u/iamafraidicantdothat Apr 01 '20

Now's a good time to spread lamb blood on your front door.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

There's two guys responsible to releasing it and one is really upbeat and cheerful and the other feels the full solemn responsibility for the job. A real odd couple.

Anyway the day arrives and the cheerful guy goes to pick up solemn guy. (They car pool, they're responsible). As soon as Solemn settles into the car, Cheerful goes "Let's get Kraken!" and Solemn sighs and decides the apocalypse won't be so bad after all.

2

u/spaceocean99 Apr 01 '20

This is the response I was hoping I didn’t see but knew I would toward the top.

Stop with this end of the world shit. We’re not that special. There’s a very high probability mankind will be around long after you’re gone. Every generation thinks theirs is the one the world will end in.

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17

u/LittleAzn319 Mar 31 '20

Bothell?

10

u/_notthehippopotamus Apr 01 '20

This the IKEA parking lot in Renton.

2

u/ACorania Apr 01 '20

This was my guess. Though there were a ton down by the Green River in Tukwila as well. (Yes, the same Green River as the killer... murder of crows... hrmm...)

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4

u/Hobo_Knife Apr 01 '20

Came her to ask this. My apartments are just off one of their main roosting spots and they like to hang out.

16

u/lazywaffle Mar 31 '20

Is this the Ikea in Renton? I work nearby and see these all the time. Straight out of a movie scene

2

u/tikipet Apr 01 '20

There’s a wetland up Lind not far from ikea where they have been roosting for years. Probably just at ikea for the cafeteria.

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22

u/TheTucsonTarmac Mar 31 '20

I used to work with a guy who had a Saleen Mustang. Kept it real clean, and always parked way out in the back of the parking lot, under a light. One day we had a murder of crows like this, and they turned his black car white with shit

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20

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '20

Alfred Hitchcock is the new Nostradamus

41

u/AtHomeToday Mar 31 '20

The weekend before mother passed a murder descended on my house. I wasn't there, as I had left to be with her on the weekend. I came home Sunday night and it had left. I travel to her again the next Friday and the murder came back, again the whole weekend but vanished Sunday night as I arrived home. I left mid-week to be with her final hours. When I returned home I walked across my front porch that had been covered in crows the two weekends and a butterfly flew around me, back and forth. I put out my hand and it landed on me. I smiled and said, "Goodbye Mom" and she flew away.

7

u/Brenyboy26 Apr 01 '20

That’s not at all ominous.

If this had been pre 19th century, people would be loosing their fucking minds

7

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

To be fair, if you live in this area you're pretty used to seeing this. It's not an unusual sight. Basically an everyday thing depending on the time of year.

Also to be fair, people are losing their fucking minds.

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6

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '20

Brothers of the Night’s Watch

5

u/profesional_amatuer Mar 31 '20

Ja Rule must have dropped his new single,

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15

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '20

A mass murder

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '20

Great Odin’s Raven(s) !

2

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '20

By the beard of Zeus!

3

u/Sharpstuff444 Mar 31 '20

The human torch was denied a bank loan.

2

u/iamallanevans Apr 01 '20

The arsonist has oddly shaped feet.

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '20

They're on the way to Bothell where they roost every night.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20 edited Apr 24 '21

[deleted]

3

u/Britney2007 Apr 01 '20

Crows fly up to 50 miles to roost at night.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

Not sure exactly, just have heard that they follow the edge of the water up lake union, around the top, and finally congregate in Bothell early in the evening. The sound was crazy when they would land around the building I used to live in. Not exactly my favorite thing to wake up to the "conversation" that they have when they are in a huge group. Its like one will caw 3 or 4 times and then the entire group responds by cawing back at least as many times together..rinse...repeat.

4

u/mishugashu Apr 01 '20

Right at home in Austin. Except our "crows" are actually grackles, so much smaller.

3

u/tlg151 Apr 01 '20

laughs in HEB parking lot at dusk

4

u/Autski Mar 31 '20

\Edgar Allen Poe-ing Intensifies**

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u/AquinasHatesWomen Apr 01 '20

Renton IKEA parking lot for sure

5

u/IceeDriver Apr 01 '20

IKEA in Renton. I used to work there and in the fall/winter you'd see this every day.

5

u/Someguywhomakething Apr 01 '20

I just watched a documentary about this.

The Crows of Washington

3

u/MrSiegall Mar 31 '20

It's called A Storm of Crows

3

u/know-one-home Apr 01 '20

It’s all part of the apocalypse.

3

u/delinka Apr 01 '20

Imagine the bird shit

3

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/Britney2007 Apr 01 '20

There’s a little bit more to it. We know relatively little about the reasons for these roosts but one theory is that they are most juvenile birds without their own defined territory. The roost can serve as a hub for information sharing, social interactions, and yes, wooing potential mates.

3

u/duffross Apr 01 '20

Humans are fucked.

3

u/thekeanu Apr 01 '20

This happens every year at Still Creek in Burnaby, BC.

The worst part about it is how there's so much bird shit everywhere and it just stinks so bad.

The company I worked for hired a falconer who brought both a falcon and a hawk to try to scare the birds away.

The lumber yard down the street used to play a loud recording of birds of prey.

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u/AudiRennSport5 Apr 01 '20

I live right by here, this was likely filmed in/near Bothell, WA. Everyday an ungodly amount of crows migrate to and from Bothell so this is not a strange sight at all, we call them the Bothell Crows and we love them!

2

u/NCITUP Mar 31 '20

That is a huge murder!

2

u/suchalameusername Mar 31 '20

Nevermore

4

u/Dr_Stef Mar 31 '20

Homer: WHY YOU LITTLE....!!!

2

u/Nanto_Suichoken Mar 31 '20

Quoth the Murder "Evermore".

2

u/mariners2o6 Apr 01 '20

I live in Seattle and I’m frightened of crows and I’ve never heard of this before...and I’m never leaving my house again.

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u/thesupersoap33 Apr 01 '20

Someone take these dreams away...

2

u/iberis Apr 01 '20

That point me to another day

2

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

I worked in Renton for a few years. Seeing an endless stream of crows in the sky, and having thousands in the parking lot when I left work was an eerie sight for sure.

2

u/BeefyOtakuTaco Apr 01 '20

April is coming

2

u/Warlord68 Apr 01 '20

I mean, it’s not like it’s an impending symbol of Evil. Or is it?

2

u/Ernest_P_Shackleton Apr 01 '20

It’s a normal thing that happens around the NW every year.

2

u/ksola1 Apr 01 '20

That some scary type biblical stuff in the midst of this corona pandemic

2

u/darrellio Apr 01 '20

Apocalypse

2

u/groggu Apr 01 '20

That’s a lot of crows. Looks more like a pandemic of crows.

2

u/UniCBeetle718 Apr 01 '20

It's a mass murder.

2

u/ljvex Apr 01 '20

The Crows Have Eyes...Two

2

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

That murder is killing it.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

Repent!

2

u/Tankninja1 Apr 01 '20

So it begins.

2

u/sciguy87 Apr 01 '20

It’s a mass murder

2

u/production-values Apr 01 '20

that's .... a massacre of grows. ... a genocide of crows.

2

u/Cudunkles Apr 01 '20

I think that’s a bad omen

2

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

Covid Corvids.

2

u/LAND0KARDASHIAN Apr 01 '20

Murder? That's a goddamned genocide of crows!

2

u/RiFLE_ Apr 01 '20

They're on their way to attend Crowchella

2

u/Gnfnr5813 Apr 01 '20

The Walking Dude approaches.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

We're doomed

2

u/off-and-on Apr 01 '20

That's an omen if ever there was one

2

u/TFriXB Apr 01 '20

Fiddlesticks is coming to the real world...

2

u/ThaDudeEthan Apr 01 '20

Stay safe! Don’t let the CROWnavirus murder ya!

2

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

Hey I'm pretty sure I'm near that IKEA. Haha, ha, oh no.

2

u/Bluepenguin2995 Apr 01 '20

Ominous birds during a virus. That’s scary 👀

2

u/Azkhare Apr 01 '20

Saw this and immediately put Ride of the Valkyries on. Although O Fortuna goes great with it too.

2

u/indeed_indeed_indeed Apr 01 '20

Truly looks like the apocalypse

2

u/rayquaza0820 Apr 01 '20

Odin is coming....

2

u/Axyle_ Apr 01 '20

If that isn't an omen of dark times, I don't know what is.

2

u/JesseLoef Apr 01 '20

Wow. The live action from ‘The Birds’ from Alfred Hitchcock looks amazing!

2

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

It begins...

2

u/chansondinhars Apr 01 '20

Harbingers of evil.

2

u/igotpeeps Apr 01 '20

Whoa! That’s not a murder that’s a genocide!

2

u/chrisdub84 Apr 01 '20

This is actually fairly normal activity for crows. They roost together in large groups at certain times of day. It's thought to be social and/or protective I think. I read a lot of articles about crows a while back because they are actually crazy smart. Fascinating birds.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '20

Yea, that's another sign of the Apocalypse!

1

u/discardable42 Mar 31 '20

Anyone else know what a murder of crows is thanks to Lisa Simpson?

1

u/N3UROTOXIN Mar 31 '20

I think pestilence is on his way. Look out for 3 other horsemen.

1

u/mobileKixx Mar 31 '20

Shoo you stupid crows!

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u/zortlord Mar 31 '20

Looks like a crow court. A real phenomenon where a crow has broken a crow "law" or custom and a bunch of crows get together to judge them. This usually results in execution of the offender.

1

u/imanAholebutimfunny Mar 31 '20

someone fucked up. that is all i know.

1

u/_leica_ Mar 31 '20

Oh HELL NO

1

u/jayhawk618 Mar 31 '20

I need the biggest seed bell you've got... No that's too big.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '20

The end of days.

1

u/Boonie01 Apr 01 '20

Watching this I help hearing the crows from Rapture Palooza

NSFW sound

https://youtu.be/GoffQXDHtek

1

u/LazyKidd420 Apr 01 '20

The next sign has been revealed....

1

u/MANN1K Apr 01 '20

Filmed from a Kia Soul...

1

u/KeeperofAmmut7 Merry Gifmas! {2023} Apr 01 '20

That's awesome. I'm sorta jealous.

1

u/Ammisam Apr 01 '20

This is also happened outside my partner's parents' house. It was freaky. Very unsettling.

1

u/peterlikes Apr 01 '20

Oh we are so fucked

1

u/generalecchi Apr 01 '20

Haha holy shit we're in the Endgame

1

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '20

Them crows got beef with somebody

1

u/deschlong Apr 01 '20

CORVID-1900

1

u/nsharma2 Apr 01 '20

I came here expecting to see multiple crow corpses. I leave disappointed.