Why Does the Rooster Crow?

I used to think that roosters only crowed in the morning to welcome the new day as the sun rose. I also thought that it was one hearty welcoming crow and then that was that. Living in Uganda I have learned otherwise. I wake up each morning to the sound of our neighbor’s rooster. It usually crows when I am not ready to get up and I always lay in bed hoping that it will let up and realize that everyone has now heard that a new day has begun, but no, it keeps on crowing. My rooster ignorance continued to show when I kept hearing the rooster at random times during the day. My ignorance also shows that I am very much a girl who grew up in the city. Finally I looked online to gain a better understanding of why a rooster really does crow. I learned that roosters crow any time of day to mark their territory, to communicate to other roosters/hens, or when they find something to eat. Sometimes a rooster crows just because they hear another rooster crow, which makes a lot of sense because here in Bundi you hear one, you hear many. This new realization has softened my annoyance with the neighbor rooster a bit, although I am sure the rooster somehow knows the amount of cock a doodle doos it takes to get me out of bed :).