# Photographing Crows? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 23, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119 "2011-07-23T23:34:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JudiKaye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@JudiKaye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JudiKaye)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/1 "2011-07-23T23:34:53Z")
My husband tells me it’s illegal in the US to take pictures of crows… This sounds ridiculous to me. A GOOGLE search has been useless, although I did learn that filming a **GROUP** of crows could definitely get me arrested. Maybe it is **only** about the play on words associated with the **collective noun**?? Can anyone help me with this?? 😕 Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/2 "2011-07-24T00:02:46Z")
Certainly not illegal to photograph either an individual crow, or a group of them. And the joke about “murder of crows” doesn’t work either, since it’s not illegal to photograph a murder per se. Since I have a strong suspicion that the OP is just kidding around rather than looking for a serious answer, let’s move this over to MPSIMS. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/3 "2011-07-24T00:40:56Z")
Because you’ll be “shooting” them with your camera. 😃 ETA: I think he’s pulling your leg, or is wildly misinformed. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/4 "2011-07-24T02:25:11Z")
Just don’t use a flash; it distracts them from their counting. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/5 "2011-07-24T03:14:42Z")
It’s illegal to own native crows, not to take pictures of them. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/6 "2011-07-24T03:15:39Z")
> [@Toucanna](#): > > Because you’ll be “shooting” them with your camera. 😃 Right. It IS illegal to _shoot_ crows ( i.e. with a gun ) without a permit - they are protected under the Migratory Bird Act. But it is not illegal to “shoot” crows ;). ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/7 "2011-07-24T03:54:28Z")
Don’t get me started on flocks of seagulls. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/8 "2011-07-24T03:57:48Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Right. It IS illegal to _shoot_ crows ( i.e. with a gun ) without a permit - they are protected under the Migratory Bird Act. But it is not illegal to “shoot” crows ;). It is perfectly legal to shoot crows here in Oregon, there is even a season, from Oct 1st to Jan 31st. You need a hunting license but no game bird stamp. Shotgun, archery or falcon only, no rifles. And you can shoot as many as you want, there is no bag limit. You can murder a murder of them. Reported to taste like duck. Link to PDF of regulations, page 16. [http://www.dfw.state.or.us/resources/hunting/upland\_bird/docs/oregon\_game\_bird\_regs.pdf](http://www.dfw.state.or.us/resources/hunting/upland_bird/docs/oregon_game_bird_regs.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/9 "2011-07-24T04:21:18Z")
Does taking a picture of two crows count as one crime or two? Does it become a felony if it’s 10 or more in one picture? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/10 "2011-07-24T04:45:08Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > It is perfectly legal to shoot crows here in Oregon, there is even a season, from Oct 1st to Jan 31st. > > You need a hunting license but no game bird stamp. A hunting license is a permit :). The MBTA doesn’t automatically make it illegal to kill listed birds at any time. It just makes it illegal to kill them in an unregulated fashion and regulations will vary depending on the species. Crows are in no danger of extinction and can actually be agricultural pests, so I’m not surprised by Oregon’s regulations. Moreover landowners can apply for depredation permits to shoot them out of season. But you can’t just let fly at them at any time in the U.S. for no reason at all without potentially being subject to fines. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/11 "2011-07-24T05:07:24Z")
So long as the crow is in a public space and the crow would not have a reasonable expectation of privacy, it would be OK to photograph them. If they were say, in a changing room at the mall, the mall cops get real sore about a person trying to take photos of strange crows in there. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/12 "2011-07-26T00:32:50Z")
While the pun in the OP was ok, it was nothing to crow about. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/13 "2011-07-26T09:19:17Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > Don’t get me started on flocks of seagulls. > > 🙂 Nit pick. They’re actually colonies of seagulls. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Archeonomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Archeonomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archeonomist)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/14 "2011-07-26T11:01:30Z")
Not unless fowl play is suspected. ---
**Author:** ![Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marconi_N.Cheese)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/15 "2011-07-26T11:24:03Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > While the pun in the OP was ok, it was nothing to crow about. Don’t get your feathers in a ruffle. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/16 "2011-07-26T11:45:29Z")
Your husband must have been ravin’ ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/17 "2011-07-26T12:02:31Z")
It is, however. illegal to shoot crowds. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/18 "2011-07-26T12:13:37Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > Don’t get me started on flocks of seagulls. > > 🙂 It’s illegal to shoot them in IRan. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/19 "2011-07-26T14:46:41Z")
Let’s leave the law out of this, and work on whether it is a [good idea:](http://io9.com/5816511/science-shows-that-crows-are-the-biker-gangs-of-the-sky) > [@](#): > > Crows will not only remember your face and go after you repeatedly if you bother them, but they will also teach other birds to do the same. Their scolding and physical harassment can last for years, possibly for the life of the bird. > > …Two researchers at the University of Washington trapped, banded, and released crows at a site near Seattle. They did so wearing distinctive masks. > > …When the researchers put the masks back on and ventured out, they were again scolded, dive-bombed, and mobbed by crows. But not all the mobs contained crows that were banded. This meant that some of the crows that had participated in the original scolding sessions remembered the researcher’s ‘faces’ and went on the offensive when they saw those faces again. The crows they were with joined in the mob, and the masks became known as trouble to an even larger population of crows. Researchers have only tested crow memory for five years, but they believe that the birds remember faces for their entire lives - fifteen to forty years. Crows will remember you, will teach other crows who you are, and will go on the attack. They are smart and evil. Don’t mess with them. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119/20 "2011-07-26T14:58:27Z")
> [@JudiKaye](#): > > although I did learn that filming a **GROUP** of crows could definitely get me arrested. Where on earth did you find this information, and why would you believe it to be true? Do you know of any other non-human animals that it is illegal to film? Is the Animal Planet network flouting the law with its mere existence? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographing-crows/590119.md?page=2)