Where did "murder of crows" come from?
The phrase belongs to a long tradition of colourful collective nouns for animals.
Some of those names are old. Others became popular through wordplay, books, hunting traditions, and later retellings. Audubon describes collective bird names as a mix of poetry, alliteration, and description rather than formal ornithology.
That is a good way to treat murder.
It is fun language. It is not a biological label, and it does not mean crows are unusually murderous birds.
Do birders really say "murder"?
Sometimes, especially when having fun with the language.
But if someone says, "A flock of crows flew over the field," nobody needs to correct them. Flock is perfectly normal English.
Researchers often describe the birds according to what they are actually doing: a family group, a foraging flock, a breeding pair, or a winter roost.
Those words can tell you more than the collective noun.
Crow families can stay together for years
This is where crows get especially interesting.
American Crows often live in extended family groups. Young birds may stay with their parents instead of leaving immediately, and older offspring can help feed and protect the next brood.
That means the five crows moving through a neighbourhood together may not be five random birds. They may be parents, younger birds from the current year, and older siblings from previous nesting seasons.
Robin has watched the crow family around our home continue across several generations. Once you start seeing crows as families instead of interchangeable black birds, their behaviour becomes much more interesting.
Why do huge numbers of crows gather?
Family life explains small groups. Winter roosts explain some of the enormous ones.
American Crows can gather in communal night roosts containing thousands of birds. Cornell notes that some winter roosts reach into the hundreds of thousands, and a few historically have been even larger.
Birds may travel away from their daytime territories and feeding areas, join other crows toward evening, and settle together for the night.
Then morning comes and the crowd spreads out again.
Why do crows roost together?
There probably is not one answer that covers every roost.
Large groups can provide social information, opportunities to follow others toward food, and many eyes that can notice danger. Roost location can also offer shelter or a favourable local temperature.
What matters is that a giant evening gathering is not necessarily one giant permanent family.
It is a meeting place.
Is a group of crows always a murder?
No rule says you have to use the word.
If three crows are feeding together on a lawn, "three crows" is fine. If a family is moving through the neighbourhood, "crow family" may be more accurate. If thousands gather in trees at dusk, "crow roost" tells you what is happening.
"Murder" is the trivia answer. The other words describe the birds.
What is a group of ravens called?
Ravens have their own old collective nouns.
You may see an unkindness of ravens or a conspiracy of ravens. Those are traditional names, not scientific categories either.
In normal conversation, a flock or group of ravens works just fine.
If the black birds overhead have you wondering which one you are seeing, our crow vs raven guide gives you the fastest clues.
Why do crows get such dark names?
Black plumage, carrion, loud calls, folklore, and a long association with battlefields and death have shaped how people talk about crows and ravens.
The real birds are more complicated.
Crows are intelligent, highly social, adaptable, and family-oriented. They can also eat nestlings, raid crops, scavenge carrion, and make a tremendous racket.
Wild animals rarely fit the reputation people give them.
Frequently asked questions
Is it a murder of crows or a flock of crows?
Both can be used. Murder is the traditional collective noun. Flock is ordinary, accurate language and is often more natural.
How many crows make a murder?
There is no scientific minimum. Collective nouns do not have official group-size rules.
What do you call a family of crows?
A crow family or family group is the clearest description. American Crow families can include a breeding pair and offspring from more than one year.
What is a group of ravens called?
Traditional names include an unkindness or a conspiracy of ravens. A flock of ravens is also perfectly understandable.
More crow questions
For identification, voice, nesting, diet, and family behaviour together, see the full American Crow species guide.
Continue with why do crows caw?, what do crows eat?, or do birds recognize people?.