American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)

Lakeport, CA
2008-02-13

The crows and ravens are ones of most familiar corvids, or birds that belong to Corvidae family. Their body, bill, eyes, and legs are shiny black. The massive built bills of the birds are characteristic of corvids such as magpies and jays.

Waldport, OR
2009-03-17

Compared to ravens, crows are smaller in their body size, and their tails are fan-shaped as shown in the photo above. The photo shows one of the four subspecies in North America of American Crows called western crow (C. brachyrhynchos hesperis). Other subspecies include C. brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos (eastern US and Canadian species), C. brachyrhynchos pascuus (Florida), and C. brachyrhynchos paulus (southern part of US).

The crows are known to exhibit intelligence -- they could produce sounds that closely resemble dog barks, the sounds of closing doors, etc.