Hi, I'm Jason Mark from Curious City.

And I don't know about you, but I am really excited that we're inching towards spring.

And as we emerge from our winter hibernation, it's pretty awesome to see birds and other wildlife returning to our neighborhoods and favorite parks.

And 26-year-old Phoebe Murtaugh recommends keeping an eye out for crows.

There's a crow.

It just kind of ghosted in on silent wings and is perched on top of a lamp post, kind of checking out the surrounds.

They usually like to sit at the very tops of one of these big trees.

I think they just like keeping an eye on things. So shiny.

Now some see these large blackbirds as harbingers of doom, but others consider them good luck.

For Phoebe, it's all about their charisma.

I've found them curious since I learned that they can use tools and recognize faces,

and clever animals are always kind of the most interesting because you end up wondering what they're thinking about.

Phoebe grew up in the Pullman neighborhood, and she's always loved Chicago's parks,

but she's noticed a change in the crow population in recent years.

I grew up in Chicago and I don't remember seeing crows when I was little.

I feel like in the past five, ten years I see them a lot more than I can ever recall seeing them, you know.

So it got me wondering like, is this part of our changing our environment?

We hear good things about, like, more frogs and more butterflies and improving local conditions.

But I know so little about crows.

I don't know.

Turns out, Phoebe's observation is correct.

The crow population in Chicago has gone through a massive change

...