Skip to content

Durban Surveys Found Only One Active House Crow Roost at a Time From 2019 to 2026

House crow standing on a concrete ledge in an urban setting
Research · Behaviour

Long-running surveys in eThekwini Municipality, South Africa, found only one active communal roost used by invasive house crows (Corvus splendens) at any given time between 2019 and 2026, even though the actual roost location changed.

Monthly surveys by municipal staff and collaborators initially identified West Street Cemetery in central Durban as the only known roost. During that period, counts at the site suggested a population of roughly 400–600 house crows.

In 2023 the birds abandoned West Street Cemetery and shifted about 2 km to The Workshop in Durban Central. The authors suspect that shooting carried out after the birds had settled at the former roost may have contributed to the move. Searches in other parts of the municipality, including a reported possible site in the Bluff, did not reveal another roost.

The Workshop was still active when checked on 3 April 2025, with crows using three closely spaced fever trees (Vachellia xanthophloea) that formed a single canopy. If the city truly has only one communal roost, the researchers estimate that some birds may commute about 15–18 km between feeding areas and the roost each day.

Map of house crow observations and roost sites around Durban
House crow observations and roost sites in eThekwini. Pink: The Workshop; blue: the former West Street Cemetery roost; green: the possible Bluff site, where the survey found no roost. Figure 1, Mashao, Mhlongo & Sindane (2026), Biodiversity Observations. Source. CC BY 4.0.

Sources and image credit

  1. Mashao, M., Mhlongo, S. N., & Sindane, M. (2026). Could House Crows Corvus splendens roost at only one site within eThekwini Municipality? Biodiversity Observations, 16(1), 68–71. https://doi.org/10.15641/bo.2046

Image: Shanmugamp7 / Wikimedia Commons — house crow (Corvus splendens) in an urban setting, photographed 8 April 2016. The source does not state the location. Illustrative photograph, not from the Durban roost survey. · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source

About this content: This story was produced with AI assistance within an editorial workflow developed by Wildlife Vagabond. Editorial responsibility remains with Wildlife Vagabond.How AI is used

Behaviour

SPECIES IN THIS STORY

Species in this story

House Crow Corvus splendens Explore species

Independent research and conservation news archive

Did you find this information useful?

Wildlife Vagabond is independently built and maintained. Voluntary support helps cover source verification, hosting and continued work on research and conservation news.

Support Wildlife Vagabond

The news archive will remain freely available.