2003 Volume 7 Issue 2 Pages 175-180
Jungle crows (Corvus macrorhynchos) have increased in number in urban areas across Japan, creating various kinds of problems. In the present study, jungle crows were counted at 33 study plots located in large open spaces (>10 ha) in central Tokyo to clarify the role of urban open spaces in crows' daily flying. Three types of open spaces were recognized: ones used mainly for post-feeding rest, ones used for further foraging and/or temporary rest throughout the daytime and ones used as roosting sites. Open spaces where people fed doves or homeless cats tended to be categorized as the second type, probably because crows stayed there to get food provided for doves or cats. In the open spaces of the first two types the number of crows correlated positively with tree coverage, indicating the importance of trees as components of crows' day-time habitat.
