I just got done with Defending the Castle quest and Ronnie Shaw made an interesting comment just prior to the battle. She said the crows in the Commonwealth were basically synth bird spies for the Institute.

Oh good then I can justify blasting them to feathers every chance I get

Crows or Crebain?

Funny enough, it was just recently when I was blasting coursors and their backups with no repricussions from Father-Son that I realized how shortsighted the Institute is: all these synths roaming the Commonwealth, in key positions of political and social importance, and many of them sent aboveground for assassinations... and yet none of them are connected to the other. No recording software, no communications channels open to be heard or recorded back in the Institute... Makes me doubt they'd have the brilliance to release birdcam spies.

You can kill the birds? I tried that, and they pretty much just ignored me. They fly away when I get close, but, even hitting 'em with a .50 cal doesn't seem to even phase them.....

IT'S THE CURSE OF EVIL TIM!!!!!!
seriously they cant be targeted with vats and give no XP there [censored] evil man.

At least they no longer show up as blips on your radar. I used to shoot the crows in Fallout New Vegas on sight just because I got annoyed at them making me think there was something important there.