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NORWALK
By CHRIS BOSAK
Hour Staff Writer

The mystery of the dead crows has apparently been solved.
According to Norwalk resident Eileen Thompson, a regular morning commuter, the 30 large black birds found dead on the Route 7 Connector were hit by an SUV at about 4:30 a.m. on Monday.
Thompson said she was driving up the Exit 2 onramp when she noticed a group of “hundreds of crows” on the road at the top of the merge lane. The birds, she said, scattered as her car approached and several were hit by an SUV driving in the right lane of the Connector.
“I heard the impact of them hitting the car. It’s not like there’s a lot going on at that time of day,” Thompson said. “As I approached they took off, but they didn’t fly high. They must not have realized there was another car coming in that lane. I knew that several had been hit. I could hear it.”
Thompson said the driver of the SUV pulled over after hitting the birds to check the condition of the vehicle.
Thompson catches the 4:52 a.m. train at the South Norwalk train station each morning for her commute to Manhattan.
“I see the flock (of crows) during my evening commute back, but this was an unusual occurrence. There’s usually nothing going on at that time of the day (in the morning),” she said. “If 30 got hit, there must have 150 or more birds in the flock. They covered the road.”
Laurie Fortin of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection’s wildlife division, who thought Monday the birds may been poisoned, said the explanation is reasonable, especially considering the time of day and season.
“I wouldn’t have expected that, but at 4:30 in the morning that sounds reasonable. It definitely happens sometimes, but more often with other species such as starlings,” she said. “(The crows) may have been focused on a food source. There’s not as much food to go around this time of year and some may be getting desperate. Also, in these large flocks, a high percentage are juveniles.”
The young birds, she said, may not be as wise as the older crows. Crows are known to be one of the most intelligent bird species.
A large flock of crows, numbering in the thousands, gathers daily in a massive roost at dusk along the Route 7 Connector.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation is responsible for picking up roadkill on state roads. The crows were picked up late Monday afternoon. Kevin Nursick, a spokesman for DOT, said roadkill picked up is often discarded in a hole near the side of the road. He said it is unlikely any of the crows were kept for testing.

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