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.

Other Corvidae species:

Western Scrub Jay
*Aphelocoma californica*

Acorn Woodpecker• American Coot• American Crow• American Robin• American White Ibis• American White Pelican• Anhinga• Audubon's Warbler• Black Phoebe• Black-Capped Chickadee• Blue Jay• Boat-Tailed Grackle• Brewer's Blackbird• Brown Pelican• Bufflehead• Canada Goose• Chestnut-Backed Chickadee• Collared-Dove• Common Gallinule• Common Goldeneye• Common Grackle• Double-Crested Cormorant• Downy Woodpecker• European Starling• Fox Sparrow• Glossy Ibis• Golden-Crowned Sparrow• Graylag Goose• **Great Blue Heron• Great Egret• Herring Gull• House Sparrow• **Killdeer• Least Bittern• Least Sandpiper• Lesser Goldfinch• Limpkin• Lincoln's Sparrow• Mallard• Mourning Dove• Northern Cardinal• Northern Mockingbird• Oak Titmouse• Osprey• Palm Warbler• Pied-Billed Grebe• Purple Finch• Red-Bellied Woodpecker• Red-Breasted Nuthatch• Red-Winged Blackbird• Ring-Billed Gull• Ringed Plover• Ruby-Crowned Kinglet• Sanderling• Sandhill Crane• Semipalmated Sandpiper• Sharp-Shinned Hawk• Short-Tailed Hawk• Snowy Egret• Song Sparrow• Spotted Towhee• Steller's Jay• Tricolored Heron• Trumpeter Swan• Tufted Titmouse• Turkey Vulture• Western Grebe• Western Gull• Western Meadowlark• Western Scrub Jay• **Western Swamphen• White-Breasted Nuthatch• White-Crowned Sparrow• Wild Turkey• Willet• Wood Stork