American Crow

Overview

American Crow: Large, black bird with dark, stout bill, iridescent violet gloss on body, and blue-black wings. Tail is fan-shaped in flight. Eats insects, small invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles and mammals, eggs and young of other birds, grains, fruits, refuse, and carrion. Steady direct flight.

Range and Habitat

American Crow: Breeds from British Columbia, central interior Canada, and Newfoundland south to southern California, the Gulf Coast, and Florida. Usually winters north to southern Canada. Preferred habitats include woodlands, farms, fields, river groves, shorelines, and towns.

INTERESTING FACTS

The American Crow has been greatly affected by the recent introduction of West Nile virus to North America. An infected bird will die in less than a week. In some areas the loss of crows has been substantial.
A crow will stand over an anthill and allow the ants to climb onto its feathers. One theory is that this allows the ants to discharge their formic acid, thus making them more palatable to the crow.
They have been taught to mimic the human voice.They can count and work out solutions to simple problems and are fascinated with and collect shiny objects such as rings, keys and foil.
A group of crows has many collective nouns, including a "cauldron", "congress", "horde", "murder", and "muster" of crows.

The American Crow is native to Mexico, Canada and the United States. This bird has been seen in Saint Pierre as well. The large range of this species of bird is believed to be as much as 11 million square kilometers. In terms of population, the American Crow is thought to be quite significant and include as many as 31 million individual birds. There is currently no reason to think that the population of the American Crow will decline soon. This bird species has a current evaluation of Least Concern, down from Lower Concern in 2000.