Field Guide to Birds of North America
American Crow
General
American Crow: Large, black bird with dark, stout bill, iridescent violet gloss on body, and blue-black wings. Tail is fan-shaped in flight. Sexes are similar.
Range and Habitat
American Crow: Breeds from British Columbia, central interior Canada, and Newfoundland south to southern California, the Gulf Coast, and Florida. Usually winters north to southern Canada. Preferred habitats include woodlands, farms, fields, river groves, shorelines, and towns.
Listen to Call
Voice Text
"caw, caw, caw", "caa-caa"
Interesting Facts
The American Crow has been greatly affected by the recent introduction of West Nile virus to North America. An infected bird will die in less than a week. In some areas the loss of crows has been substantial.
A crow will stand over an anthill and allow the ants to climb onto its feathers. One theory is that this allows the ants to discharge their formic acid, thus making them more palatable to the crow.
They have been taught to mimic the human voice.They can count and work out solutions to simple problems and are fascinated with and collect shiny objects such as rings, keys and foil.
A group of crows has many collective nouns, including a "cauldron", "congress", "horde", "murder", and "muster" of crows.
Author
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Family
Crows and Ravens (Corvidae)_blue
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Species
Corvus brachyrhynchos
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Length17.5
Inches
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Wingspan36.5
Inches
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American Crow
American Crow: Large, black bird with dark, stout bill, iridescent violet gloss on body, and blue-black wings. Tail is fan-shaped in flight. Eats insects, small invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles and mammals, eggs and young of other birds, grains, fruits, refuse, and carrion. Steady direct flight.
● Song: "caw, caw, caw", "caa-caa"
● Foraging & Feeding: American Crow: Diet includes fruits, snails, salamanders, grain, small birds, mice, eggs, toads, corn, insects, and carrion. Around coastal areas, crows display behavior similar to that of gulls, taking clams and mussels and dropping them from heights to crack open shells.
● Breeding & nesting: American Crow: Three to seven blue green to olive green eggs with dark markings are laid in a large nest made of twigs and sticks lined with feathers, grass, plant material, and rootlets. Nest is built in a tree or shrub, up to 100 feet above the ground. May use cross posts of utility poles as a nest site; in prairies, nests may be built on the ground. Nest is built by both parents, sometimes with the help of extra birds. Both parents incubate eggs for about 18 days. Young stay in nest 4 to 5 weeks before fledging.
● Similar species: American Crow: Fish Crow is smaller, has more pointed wings, a more slender bill, longer tail, and different call. Northwestern Crow has a separate range. Common Raven is much larger with heavy, stout bill, shaggy throat feathers, wedge-shaped tail, and different call.
Flight Pattern
Slow steady delierate direct flight with deep wing beats., Glides with slight dihedral from altitude to perch or ground, between perches, and from perch to ground.
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BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
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PopulationAbundant
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MigrationSome migrate
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Weight16
Ounces
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