Quantcast

Tamaulipas Crow

Corvus imparatusOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Crows and Jays (Corvidae)

Tamaulipas Crow Breeding Male Portrait
  Copyright 2002-2007 Whatbird.com
Click here for licensing information Splitbar

General

Tamaulipas Crow: Small crow, shiny black overall with purple-tinted upperparts and duller purple to blue-green tinted underparts. Bill is small and short. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Tamaulipas Crow: Regular visitor to extreme southern Texas from Mexico. Prefers arid country with thickets and brush such as mesquite; also ranches and farms, as well as along woodland streams.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"craw", "khurr", "creow"

Interesting Facts

 The Tamaulipas Crow is the counterpart of the Sinaloa Crow of the Pacific slope; in fact, the two are considered conspecific by some.

 The voice of this Crow is unusual and unlike most other species of the genus Corvus. It has a low croaking sound rather like a frog and a call that is described as a soft "gar-lik".

 Unknown north of the U.S.-Mexico border before the 1960s, it has in recent years become a regular visitor to the Brownsville, Texas region.

 A group of crows has many collective nouns, including a "cauldron", "congress", "horde", "murder", and "muster" of crows.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

Splitbar
Range Map for Tamaulipas Crow
.
Bird database and its related content, illustrations and media is Copyright © 2002 - 2007  Whatbird.com
All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced without written permission from Mitch Waite Group.
 Privacy Policy.
Percevia® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Crows and Ravens (Corvidae)_blue
Species Corvus imparatus
Length14 - 15 Inches
Wingspan26.5 Inches

Tamaulipas Crow

Tamaulipas Crow: Small crow, shiny black overall with purple-tinted upperparts and duller purple to blue-green tinted underparts. Bill is small and short. Feeds on grains, fruits, insects, carrion, refuse, and eggs and young of other birds. Rapid direct flight with steady wing beats.

● Song: "craw", "khurr", "creow"

● Foraging & Feeding: Tamaulipas Crow: Eats insects, grains, carrion, refuse, eggs and young of other birds, and some fruits. Walks and hops on the ground as it forages.

● Breeding & nesting: Tamaulipas Crow: Four to five blue to blue-gray eggs with brown or olive buff streaks are laid in a nest made of sticks and plant fibers, lined with softer materials, and built in a tree. Incubation ranges from 17 to 18 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Tamaulipas Crow: Chihuahuan Raven is larger with wedge-shaped tail. American Crow is slightly larger, but best distinguished by voice. Great-tailed Grackle has white yellow eyes, longer keel-shaped tail, and purple sheen.

Flight Pattern

Rapid direct flight on steadily beating wings. Glides from altitude to perch; glides between perches and from perch to ground.
Tamaulipas Crow Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Tamaulipas Crow: Regular visitor to extreme southern Texas from Mexico. Prefers arid country with thickets and brush such as mesquite; also ranches and farms, as well as along woodland streams.
BreedingMonogamous, Colonial
PopulationUncommon to fairly common
MigrationNonmigratory
Weight8 - 9 Ounces