Clever Crows
The Great Outdoors | February 1, 2017
By Jackie Scharfenberg, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Caw! Caw! Caw! The sun’s setting! We better join the other hundreds of American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) at the winter roosting tree. Hey did you hear about the roosting tree that accommodated about two million crows? I like to be social, but that’s way too crowded for me!
Our Family Life
Come spring, our little family will head off to our own neck of the woods. After dad bows repeatedly, gives his rattle call, and puffs up his feathers, he’ll breed with mom. We all, mom, dad, and us kids from previous years, help to build a nest high in a tall tree, such as, an evergreen or old oak. Using medium-size sticks, we construct a larger nest with a 4-15 inch deep bowl. We line it with pine needles, weeds, soft bark, or animal hair. After the nest is finished, mom will lay, on average, about four to six blue-green-brown-blotched eggs. She will incubate them for 16-18 days. We bring her snacks, but she often gets up to find her own food. Once the chicks hatch, everyone gets busy feeding the youngsters until they fledge at about 30 days old.
Crows must be at least two years old before we breed, but most do not breed until four or five years old. That’s why young crows stick around home to help out the folks with the new youngsters.
Look for us
If you want to spy a crow, first listen for our distinctive “caw” call. Then, look up in a tree or overhead for some fairly large glossy black birds (remember, we like to hang out in groups). Even our big bills, legs, and feet are black, but we sport brown eyes. Check our almost three-foot wing span and rounded squared-off tail. Observe our unique flight pattern: patient, methodical flapping that is rarely broken with glides.
Our Habitat
Being highly adaptable, we can live in any open place that offers a few trees to perch in and a reliable source of food. We use both natural and human created habitats, including: farmland, landfills, city parks, golf courses, cemeteries, yards, vacant lots, feedlots, and the shores of rivers, streams, and marshes. We tend avoid unbroken expanses of forests and deserts.
Our Diet
American crows eat a wide assortment of foods, including grains, seeds, nuts, fruits, berries, and many kinds of small animals including earthworms, insects, and mice. We also eat aquatic animals such as fish, young turtles, crayfish, mussels, and clams. We raid bird nests for eggs and nestlings, and peck on carrion and garbage. Ah, true omnivores!
Clever Us
People call crows intelligent, and sometimes mischievous, because we are. We work together to find solutions to problems, recognize unusual food sources, and mob predators like hawks and owls. Sometimes we make and use tools. We can shape a piece of wood to stick into a hole in search of food. We can also break off pine cone pieces to drop on tree climbers near a nest.
Caw, caw, caw! That’s last call for tonight’s roost. Hope you spy us soon!
Source: allaboutbirds.org
