Have you ever seen 15,000 crows in one place? Join local observer Craig Gibson to learn about this extraordinary sight right here in Essex County.
For decades, the city of Lawrence has hosted a significant winter crow roost. The winter crow roost consists of mostly American Crows, along with a smaller number of Fish Crows. Typically, an hour before sunset, the crows gather in smaller pre-roost groupings. These pre-roost (staging) locations may change on any given night. The crows then converge about a half hour after sunset, into a final roost location. For many years, the final roost location had been along the south side of the Merrimack River, by the New Balance building complex. Over the winter of 2017-2018, and 2018-2019, the final roost location changed many times. Since October 2020, the roost has continued along the Merrimack River from the New Balance building, downriver as far as the Rt. 495 bridge, and an extended area around Lawrence General Hospital. The size of the winter roost typically grows from an initial group of 2,500 in October to almost 15,000 crows in late January and early February!
In North America, this is the most well documented and researched Winter Crow Roost. Craig Gibson, our speaker, founded and leads a group called the Crow Patrol, who track and document the roost each year. Craig hosts a website where he shares the information they collect, in an effort to draw attention to these incredible birds. Please visit his site to learn more and join the Patrol!
https://www.wintercrowroost.com/
Location of the Greenbelt talk:
“Pinnacle” event space
Harbor Place, 3rd Floor
2 Merrimack St.
Haverhill, MA
Date of the Talk:
Thurs. Feb. 5, 2026
(*NOTE: Please also join us the following Sunday evening, Feb. 8 to visit the roost site with Craig -- but we request that you sign up for that visit separately so that we can send everyone the exact location to meet, which may be different from year to year, or may even change the evening of the visit! The crows don't consult us…
Sign up for the roost visit HERE.)
To sign up for the TALK, please fill out the form below: