Corvus brachyrhynchos

• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Physical Description

Habitat

The Common Crow is an opportunist that has been able to occupy a number of habitats , including coastal areas, towns, fields , and the edge of forests . The Common Crow is found throughout North America except in deserts, deep thickets, and on mountain tops. Its most common habitats are woodlands, farms , fields, river groves, shores and towns.

Vegetation: arid lowland scrubs, pastures and agricultural lands, gallery forests, tropical lowland evergreen forest, second-growth forests and woodlands • Foraging Strata: Canopy • Center of Abundance: Lower subtropical: lowlands, lower than 500 m.; subtropics. • Sensitivity to Disturbancet: Low

Biology

Diet

The crow is omnivorus. Its diet includes wild fruit, snail, salamanders, grain, small birds, mice, eggs , toads, corn, large quantites of 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 the shells . They then swoop down to ingest the soft contents. Adult crows eat their weight in food every day, dividing the feedings between eight to ten full meals .

Reproduction

Courtship of the common crow takes place on the ground or in trees . It begins when the male faces the female and fluffs its body feathers . Then he partially spreads his wings and tail and proceeds to bow repeatedly while uttering a brief rattling song. Once a male and female have mated, they perch together and may touch bills and preen each other's feathers.

Common crows also demonstrate cooperative breeding. A breeding pair may have a helper or helpers who aide them in all aspects of nesting. The helpers and the mated pair participate in the parental duties of caring for the offspring.

Both males and females help in the construction of nests , which are frequently placed in heights up to 75 feet; a common location is the tops of trees. If trees are not available, they will build a nest on the ground. The nest is typically twelve inches in diameter and is made of twigs , grasses, and tree bark. Three to seven eggs are laid by the female. The eggs are dull blue-green to grey-green blotched with grey and brown markings. Both parents sit on the eggs for an incubation period of eighteen days. The young are born blind and flesh colored . After about five days, their eyes open for the first time. At five weeks of age the fledglings are ready to make their first flight.

• Nest Location: Mid-story/canopy nesting
• Clutch Size: 3-8
• Length of Incubation : 18 days
• Days to Fledge : 28-35
• Number of Broods: 1, 2 in south

Migration

The common crow is a very intelligent, adaptable, and opportunistic . Recent studies by ornithologists show that crows and ravens are among the most intelligent birds, along with other members of the Corvidae . Crows gather in groups from two to eight birds in the summer, while during the winter they gather from many miles in great nocturnal roosts of up to thousands of birds. During the day they fly up to fifty miles away from these roosts in search of food. During feeding, one of two crows can be seen on high perched places serving as a lookout for the rest of the flock. These sentinels watch for signs of danger and warn the rest of the flock. This behavior allows the rest of the flock to forage more efficiently.

The crow's call has varations that allow it to express warning, threats , taunting, and cheer.

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 17-Oct-2001.

Similar Species

The Common Raven tends to be larger (20-27 inches) than the Common Crow. The Crow's call is a "caw-caw" or "caa-caa" sound, while the Raven's call is a varied, deep, guttural croaking, "wonk-wonk". Crows have fan-shaped tails; Ravens have wedged-shaped tails. Crows have a steady flapping flight; Ravens may soar.

The Fish Crow tends to be smaller than the Common Crow(17 inches), with a call that sounds like a nasal "kwak" or a nasal two noted "ah-ah."

Members of the genus Corvus

There are approximately 194 species in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

C. adsimilis · C. afer · C. affinis · C. alba · C. albicollis (African White-Necked Raven) · C. albus (Pied Crow) · C. americana · C. azureus · C. bacmeisteri · C. benetti · C. bennetti (Little Crow) · C. boreus (Relict Raven) · C. brachyrhynchos (American Crow) · C. brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos (Southern Crow) · C. brachyrhynchos caurinus · C. brachyrhynchos hesperis · C. brachyrhynchos pascuus · C. brachyrhynchos paulus (American Crow) · C. brachyrhynchus · C. brachyrynchos · C. c. corax · C. caledonicus · C. capellanus · C. capensis (Black Crow) · C. capensis capensis · C. capensis kordofanensis · C. caurinus (Northwestern Crow) · C. corax (Southwestern Raven) · C. corax canariensis · C. corax clarionensis (Common Raven) · C. corax corax (Southwestern Raven) · C. corax dardaniensis · C. corax hispanus · C. corax islandicus · C. corax jordansi · C. corax kamtschaticus · C. corax kretae · C. corax laurencei · C. corax laurenci (Common Raven) · C. corax principalis (Common Raven) · C. corax sinuatus (Common Raven) · C. corax ssp · C. corax subcorax · C. corax tibetanus · C. corax tingitanus · C. corax varius · C. cornix · C. cornix cornix · C. cornix kaukasicus · C. cornix pallescens · C. cornix sardonius · C. cornix sharpii · C. cornix syriacus · C. corone · C. corone; cornix (Hooded Crow) · C. corone capellanus · C. corone cornix (Hooded Crow) · C. corone corone · C. corone coronix · C. corone interpositus · C. corone orientalis · C. corone pallescens · C. corone sardonius · C. corone sharpii · C. corone ssp · C. corone x · C. coronoides (Australian Raven) · C. coronoides coronoides (Australian Raven) · C. coronoides inoptatus · C. coronoides perplexus · C. crassirostris (Thick-Billed Raven) · C. cryptoleucus (White-Necked Raven) · C. culminatus · C. dauuricus (Daurian Jackdaw) · C. difficilis · C. edithae · C. enca (Slender-Billed Crow) · C. enca celebensis · C. enca compilator · C. enca enca · C. enca pusillus · C. enca samarensis · C. enca sierramadrensis · C. enca violaceus · C. f. hilgerti · C. florensis (Flores Crow) · C. frugilegus (Rook) · C. frugilegus frugilegus (Rook) · C. frugilegus pastinator · C. frugileus · C. fuscicapillus (Brown-Headed Crow) · C. fuscicapillus megarhynchus · C. hassi · C. hawaiiensis (Hawaiian Crow) · C. hungaricus · C. iliceti · C. imparatus (Tamaulipas Crow) · C. impluviatus · C. infumatus · C. insolens

More Info

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• A bibliography of birds: with special reference to anatomy, behavior, biochemistry --. by Reuben Myron Strong Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1946 UND url p. 137, p. 52.
• A geographic classification of Neotropical mammals. [Chicago]Chicago Natural History Museum, 1958. ENG url p. 626.
• A history of the birds of Colorado, by William Lutley Sclater.. . London, Witherby and amp; co., 1912. ENG url p. 568.
• Anglo-russkii biologicheskii slovar' / [avtory, I. N. Afanas'eva.. . et al.; spetsial'nye nauch. redaktory, O. I. Chibisova i L. A. Koziar]. Moskva: Russkii iazyk, 1979. ENG url p. 165.
• Annals of the Carnegie Museum. [Pittsburgh]: Published by authority of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Institute, 1901- ENG url p. 565.
• Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, -1965. ENG url p. 101, p. 105, p. 107, p. 110, p. 122, p. 124, p. 151, p. 153, p. 154, p. 155, p. 70, p. 96, p. 98.
• Aquila. Budapest: A Magyar Ornithologiai Knt Kiadva, 1894- HUN url p. 384.
• Bio-ecology, by Frederic E. Clements.. . and Victor E. Shelford.. . New York, J. Wiley and amp; Sons, inc.;1939. ENG url p. 212.
• Bird guide: land birds east of the Rockies from parrots to bluebirds / by Chester A. Reed. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page, 1916, c1909. ENG url p. 59.
• Bird-lore. New York, National Association of Audubon Societies. ENG url p. 100.
• BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, U.K.
• BirdLife International. 2004 Threatened Birds of the World 2004. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.
• Birds of New York / by Elon Howard Eaton. Albany: University of the State of New York, 1910-1914. ENG url p. 214.
• Birds of eastern Canada, by P. A. Taverner. Ottawa, J. de L. Tachprinter, 1919. ENG url p. 156, p. 277.
• Birds of the Boston Public garden, a study in migration, by Horace Winslow Wright; with an introduction by Bradford Torrey and illustrations. Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin co., 1909. ENG url p. 232, p. 83.
• Birds of the Pacific coast, including a brief account of the distribution and habitat of one hundred and eighteen birds that are more or less common to the Pacific coast states and British Columbia, many of which are found east by Willard Ayres Eliot; wi New York, G. P. Putnam's sons, 1923. ENG url p. 191.
• Brigham Young University science bulletin. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, [1955-1976] ENG url p. 4, p. 47.
• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. ENG url p. 1817, p. 258, p. 260, p. 326, p. 328, p. 39, p. 402, p. 403, p. 483, p. 487, p. 491, p. 544, p. 61, p. 746, p. 829.
• Bulletin / Peabody Museum of Natural History. New Haven: The Museum, ENG url p. 101, p. 134, p. 184, p. 204, p. 91.
• Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: BM(NH) ENG url p. 242, p. 243.
• Bulletin of the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History. Bloomington, Ill.: The Laboratory, 1878-[1918]. ENG url p. 331, p. 395, p. 395, p. 586.
• Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Cambridge, Mass.: The Museum, ENG url p. 366, p. 555, p. 593.
• Cassinia. Philadelphia, Delaware Valley Ornithological Club. ENG url p. 39, p. 41, p. 48, p. 52, p. 62, p. 83, p. 87.
• Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands in Field Museum of Natural History. by Charles E. Hellmayr. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1934. ENG url p. 3.
• Check-list and bibliography on the occurrence of insects in birds' nests. Ames, Iowa State College Press[1959] ENG url p. 172, p. 186, p. 230, p. 263, p. 280, p. 281, p. 312, p. 421, p. 48, p. 86.
• Check-list of North American birds / prepared by a committee of the American ornithologists' union. Lancaster, Pa.: The Union, 1931. ENG url p. 226, p. 467, p. 487.
• Entomological news, and proceedings of the Entomological Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Philadelphia[Entomological Rooms of the Academy of Natural Sciences] ENG url p. 90.
• Entomological news. [Philadelphia]American Entomological Society, 1925- ENG url p. 160.
• Experiment station record. Washington: G.P.O., 1889-1946. ENG url p. 174, p. 851.
• FWS/0BS. [Washington]Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior. ENG url p. 139, p. 79.
• Fauna of New England. List of the Araneida. Boston, For Society, 1908. ENG url p. 7.
• Fishery circular / U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Fisheries. [Washington]: The Bureau, 1931-1939. ENG url p. 88.
• Fleas, flukes and cuckoos; a study of bird parasites, by Miriam Rothschild and Theresa Clay. New York, Macmillan, 1957. ENG url p. 194.
• Fleas, flukes and amp; cuckoos; a study of bird parasites, by Miriam Rothschild and Theresa Clay. New York, Macmillan, 1957. ENG url p. 194.
• General function of the gall bladder from the evolutionary standpoint, by Frank W. Gorham and Andrew Conway Ivy. Chicago, 1938. ENG url p. 186.
• Great Basin naturalist memoirs. [Provo, Utah]Brigham Young University, 1976-1992. ENG url p. 159, p. 190, p. 207, p. 214, p. 216, p. 219.
• Homing with the birds; the history of a lifetime of personal experience with the birds, by Gene Stratton-Porter. Garden City, New York, Doubleday, Page and amp; Company, 1919. ENG url p. 377.
• Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences. Washington [etc., Washington Academy of Sciences] ENG url p. 498.
• Les oiseaux de la province le Quebec, par C.-E. Dionne. Quebec, Dussault and amp; Proulx, 1906. FRE url p. 276.
• Memoirs of the Nuttall Ornithological Club. Cambridge, Mass.: The Club, 1886- ENG url p. 237, p. 238, p. 337.
• Memoirs of the San Diego Society of Natural History. San Diego, Calif.: The Society, 1931- ENG url p. 146.
• Michigan bird life: a list of all the bird species known to occur in the State together with an outline of their classification and an account of the life history of each species, with special reference to its relation t by Walter Bradford Barrows. Lansing: Michigan Agricultural College, 1912. ENG url p. 420.
• Miscellaneous publication - University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History. Lawrence, University of Kansas, 1946-1996. ENG url p. 38, p. 40.
• Novitates Zoologicae. London. url p. 88, p. 90, p. 95.
• Photoperiodism and related phenomena in plants and animals; proceedings, edited by Robert B. Withrow, with the cooperation of Arthur C. Giese [and others]. Washington, 1959. ENG url p. 679, p. 748, p. 880.
• Point Lobos Reseerve; State Park, California. Interpretation of a primitive landscape. Sacramento, [State Print. Off., 1954] ENG url p. 96.
• Postilla. New Haven, Peabody Museum of Natural History, 1950-2004. ENG url p. 29.
• Principles of animal ecology, by W. C. Allee [and others] Philadelphia, Saunders Co., 1949. ENG url p. 785.
• Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. [Washington, Biological Society of Washington] ENG url p. 121, p. 200, p. 202, p. 218, p. 234.
• Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 4th series. San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences. ENG url p. 506, p. 778.
• Proceedings of the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union. Lincoln, [1900-15] ENG url p. 28.
• Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] ENG url p. 187, p. 205, p. 206, p. 415, p. 503, p. 545, p. 546, p. 560, p. 573, p. 589, p. 593, p. 598, p. 617, p. 620, p. 63.
• Report on the progress and condition of the U.S. National Museum for the year ending June 30.. . / Smithsonian Institution, United States National Museum. Washington: G.P.O., 1907-1951. ENG url p. 154, p. 172.
• Smithsonian miscellaneous collections. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1862-1968. ENG url p. 40, p. 7, p. 92.
• Social feeding behavior of birds. [Chicago]Chicago Natural History Museum, 1954. ENG url p. 35.
• The Canadian field-naturalist. Ottawa, The Ottawa-Field-Naturalists Club. ENG url p. 112, p. 163, p. 164, p. 5, p. 50, p. 99.
• The Great Basin naturalist. Provo, Utah, M.L. Bean Life Science Museum, Brigham Young University. ENG url p. 150, p. 271, p. 283, p. 47, p. 603, p. 607, p. 64, p. 722, p. 734.
• The Journal of the Maine Ornithological Society. Bangor: Maine Ornithological Society, 1899-1911. ENG url p. 97.
• The Ottawa naturalist. Ottawa, Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club. ENG url p. 198, p. 43.
• The Review of applied entomology. Farnham Royal, Eng. [etc.]: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux [etc.] ENG url p. 115, p. 202.
• The University of Kansas science bulletin. [Lawrence]: University of Kansas, 1902-1996. ENG url p. 1279, p. 1335, p. 1336, p. 1370, p. 558.
• The birds of Connecticut, by John Hall Sage and Louis Bennett Bishop, assisted by Walter Parks Bliss. Hartford, Printed for the State Geological and Natural History Survey, 1913. ENG url p. 362.
• The birds of Illinois and Wisconsin. Chicago, 1909. ENG url p. 178, p. 178, p. 548, p. 548, p. 735, p. 753.
• The book of birds; common birds of town and country and American game birds, by Henry W. Henshaw; illustrated in natural colors with 250 paintings by Louis Agassiz Fuertes. Washington, D.C., National geographic society[1921] ENG url p. 59.
• The book of woodcraft and Indian lore. Garden City, N.Y.Doubleday, Page, 1912. ENG url p. 345.
• The oist. Albion, N.Y.: Frank H. Lattin, 1886-1941. ENG url p. 120, p. 195, p. 84.
• The ruffed grouse; life history, propagation, management, by Gardiner Bump [and others] With 4 paintings in full color by Fred. Everett and 127 sketches by Clayton B. Seagears and Fred. Everett. [Albany?]1947. ENG url p. 333.
• The sport of bird-study / by Herbert Keightley Job; profusely illustrated with photographs from life by the author. New York: Macmillan, 1922, c1908. ENG url p. 301.
• The transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis. St. Louis: The Academy, 1860-1958. ENG url p. 147.
• Travels and traditions of waterfowl. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press[1955] ENG url p. 287.
• Tulane studies in zoology and botany. New Orleans: Tulane University, [1968- ENG url p. 43.
• University of Kansas publications, Museum of Natural History. Lawrence, University of Kansas. ENG url p. 173, p. 238, p. 336, p. 479, p. 50, p. 580, p. 603, p. 630, p. 650, p. 678, p. 684, p. 750.

Notes

Contributors

• BirdLife International 2004. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.
• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Georgia Museum of Natural History and Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 04, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 13 providers.
• Hines, J. E., Gregory Gough, J. R. Sauer, et al. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
• Parker III, T.A., D.F. Stotz, and J.W. Fitzpatrick, and quot;Ecological and Distributional Databases for Neotropical Birds, and quot; in Neotropical Birds: Ecology and Conservation, by D.F. Stotz, T.A. Parker III, J.W. Fitzpatrick, and D.K. Moskovits (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996). ISBN 0-226-64676-9.
• Peterson, Alan P. Zoological Nomenclature Resource. Accessed June 19, 2009.
• Sauer, J. R., J. E. Hines, and J. Fallon. 2005. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966 - 2004. Version 2005.2. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD
• Sauer, J. R., S. Schwartz, and B. Hoover. 1996. The Christmas Bird Count Home Page. Version 95.1. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 04, 2008:

• Avian Knowledge Network: eBird
• Avian Knowledge Network: Great Backyard Bird Count
• Avian Knowledge Network: Project FeederWatch
• Bird Studies Canada: Marsh Monitoring Program - Birds
• Bird Studies Canada: Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas 1981-1985
• Bird Studies Canada: Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas 2001-2005
• Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: North West Territories and Nunavut Bird Checklist, Canada
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. Birds (Aves)
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Royal British Columbia Museum
• Canadian Museum of Nature: Canadian Museum of Nature Bird Collection
• Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates: Bird Collection
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University: Bay of Fundy Species List (OBIS Canada)
• Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University: MCZ Ornithology Collection
• Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
• New Brunswick Museum: NBM birds
• Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History: Santa Barbara Musem of Natural History
• University of Colorado Museum: Zoological specimens
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology (UMMZ): Bird specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3847179
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-179735
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 14383669
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 179731
• IUCN ID: 51158
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: ABPAV10010
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 21

©2004-2009 the BayScience Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved.