Winter crows return to Baghdad, stirring seasonal mystery

Shafaq News – Baghdad

As winter approaches, Baghdad is once again drawing large flocks of crows to landmarks such as the Unknown Soldier Monument and Al-Zawraa Park. The yearly spectacle blends scientific explanation with deep cultural traditions that shape how Iraqis interpret the birds’ arrival.

Across the country, the crow carries sharply different connotations. In Nineveh, many residents still link its appearance to seasonal rains. Nihaya Jassem told Shafaq News that villagers once read the bird’s arrival in valleys and farmland as a dependable sign of changing weather, a memory that endures in Mosul and its surroundings.

Further south, long-held beliefs take a darker turn. Hasan Rasn Zamil from Diwaniyah said the crow remains tied to misfortune in local folklore, with stories connecting its presence to drowning incidents, the death of village elders, or sudden house fires.

These traditions draw on older narratives, including the Qur’anic account of Cain and Abel, where a crow appears after the killing of Abel—an association that helped cement the bird as a symbol of loss in Iraqi popular culture.

Environmental specialists, however, offer a more grounded view. Biodiversity expert Omar al-Sheikhli said several corvid species converge on Baghdad during winter, led by the rook, a migratory bird traveling from Siberia, Anatolia, and western Iran. Others include the jackdaw and the distinctive black-and-white Iraqi crow.

Al-Sheikhli said the birds form large roosts during migration and act as natural cleaners, consuming waste, carcasses, rodents, and harmful pests. Their role, he added, supports ecological balance and helps curb the spread of disease.

He warned that crow populations have fallen in recent years due to pesticide use, unregulated hunting, and the loss of green areas to urban expansion—declines that have allowed harmful species such as snakes and the red palm weevil to spread more widely.

Crows also serve a role in falcon trapping, a practice with a long tradition in Iraq. Hunter Hatem Aziz said black crows bought from Baghdad’s Ghazil Market are taken to the Samawa desert and placed near traps, where their movements trigger a direct strike from a peregrine falcon. A strong, vocal bird can fetch up to 50,000 dinars, he said, because the success of the hunt depends on its ability to draw the falcon in.

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