Corvus brachyrhynchos
adult
The American Crow is the most widespread bird of its kind in the region and the default corvid to which its relatives should be compared. The sexes are similar. Adults have uniformly glossy black plumage. The bill is proportionately long and dark, and the legs are dark. In flight, the relatively long tail is sometimes fanned. Juveniles are similar to adults but the eye has a pale (not dark)iris and there is a subtle brown tinge to the plumage. The closely related Northwestern Crow (C. caurinus) is essentially identical to American Crow populations found in the northwest; in areas where the two species do not occur together, geographical range represents the only realistic prospect of separating them.
The American Crow is resident year-round across most of North America, except along the northwest coast, and in the far north, where populations migrate south in fall. All manner of food items are eaten and the species is quick to cash in on human wastefulness, visiting garbage dumps and raiding trash cans. It sometimes gathers in flocks outside the breeding season. The Northwestern Crow replaces the American Crow along the northwest coast of British Columbia and Alaska.
adult Northwestern Crow
adult
FACT FILE
LENGTH 15–18 in (38–45.5 cm)
FOOD Omnivorous and opportunistic
HABITAT Wide range of habitats, from farmland to urban environments
STATUS Widespread and common resident and partial migrant
VOICE Call is a raucous caaw-caaw
