They've moved out of the city and into the suburbs, so to speak.

Late last week, the USDA Wildlife Service discovered that nearly half of Auburn's crow population had returned, not to the downtown area, but to residential neighborhoods.

And that may draw an even louder squawk from residents.

It's one thing to have them lined up along the Seward House fence, singing to all those leaving the YMCA at night. It's quite another to have them in your backyard.

We commend the USDA's commitment to their dispersal project. They have spent nearly $10,000 above and beyond their $13,000 fee from the city, and are determined to bring the crow population from 63,800 to less than 10,000.

But we are anxious to find out what type of consistent success this dispersal program delivers.

Moving crows out for a week or two is not worth the $13,000. This may be an exciting project for the USDA, which has never moved a roost this large, but after the feathers have cleared, results are what matter.

And the USDA began its hazing in January, not November when the crows begin arriving. Given an extra two months, would even more crows have returned by now?

The city, concerned with investing thousands annually on this program, would like to receive crow-hazing training, to help lessen the cost.

But first, the USDA program needs to exhibit some kind of sustainable success. Crow dispersal may be like "mowing the lawn," according to the USDA, but the lawn can't be growing back every four to five days because this is one very expensive mower.

Neither the city nor the USDA can afford to invest the kind of time and money that the dispersal program has cost this winter, especially given that nearly 25,000 crows are still lingering in the city.