Yesterday evening, a Buffalo resident took a photo near Delaware Ave which showed hundreds of crows in the trees and on the buildings. Sometimes crows will gather in groups of three or four, but hundreds of them together is definitely an unusual sight. To make matters even spookier, the same photographer claimed that a similar gathering of crows had occurred at the same time last year.

The photo of the gathering was first posted to Reddit where the user wrote: “I’m around Delaware Ave, and all we can hear are these “crows”. Honestly, it could be any other kind of bird. When we looked outside the trees were crowded with birds. Even the parking garage is filled with birds. This feels very bizarre, last year same thing happened. Are they migrating? Can anyone else see this? Is this an omen? Did a witch curse me?”

It turns out that this is a natural phenomenon and is also known as a ‘murder‘. Thankfully, this term does not involve death and is instead used to describe a gathering. A murder is a collective noun for a group of crows, and it’s actually a bit of a mystery why they gather in such large groups.

There are a few theories: One is that they gather for protection against predators. Another is that they gather to share information, such as where to find food or potential threats in the area. Some believe they gather for social interaction and even to play.