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I live in southern Maine, where both American Crow and Common Raven occur, though ravens are far less common and less visible where they do occur. I have both species nesting in the woods near my home. I find them very easy to distinguish both by voice and appearance in flight, though I never use size as a differentiator. Ravens tend to stay where there is much more forest cover and more mature trees. The ravens nesting near me have chosen a very tall oak deeper in the woods, but their nest is quite visible. I saw one of these adults approach the nest in mid-May carrying a baby robin. The nesting crows are right near my house in the tops of red pines, and there seem to be several helpers assisting at the nest.
When distinguishing between the two species, it is also helpful to remember that ravens are almost always alone or (during breeding season) in pairs, at least in my experience. In my many years of birding, I have never seen a group of ravens except at a carcass.
As to the neighbor who complains about the crows eating baby birds, I had a neighbor say that exact thing to me. I reminded her that her free-ranging cat is FAR more likely to be killing birds than a crow.-
I live in mid-New Hampshire, have both Ravens and Crows. We lived above Spokane, WA seeing Ravens often in groups up in the mountains since we lived at about 3500'
If your neighbor really loves her cat, it would live 5-8 years longer if she kept it indoors.
My first course, liking it very much.
Dan
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1: I’d let them know we should be more concerned about squirrels and chipmunks in our area.
2: I have had a family of crows in my woods for several years now. I do not know where their nest is...yet.
3. In the part of New Hampshire that I live I generally only see crows. But when I hike in the White Mountains I see and hear ravens.
4: All things are connected. In New England we have a tick problem. Crows that feed on small rodents have the ability to break a link in the web of causation that causes disease in humans. The tick feeds on rodents, among other things, and then feeds on people, causing Lyme and other diseases. The crow is a welcome part of my neighborhood. It is also helpful for the same reason for the deer and moose populations as well as my dogs. -
1. I would mention that snakes and even squirrels are responsible for more predation.
2. We have many American Crows in our neighborhood, but I have never thought to look for a nest.
3. I live where both species are present.
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#1. I would point out that snakes, and especially in my area, squirrels eat more birds. I also agree that cats are a problem, although I am not sure if they are killing baby birds or adults.
#2. I have crows in my neighborhood and in my backyard. I have no knowledge of where they are nesting. There is a marsh nearby. I would appreciate any tips on how to keep them from eating the plants in my garden. I have several bird feeders and they like to eat the seeds that fall on the ground. That's okay, but now they've started eating the plants.
#3. I believe I live near both species, but until I took this course, I couldn't distinguish them. Now I will pay more attention to behavior.
#4. As the video said, probably owls that use the nests that crows leave behind. -
Re. #1 - I would probably mention that outdoor cats are what we really need to worry about.
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I agree! Every cat that I own is an indoor only cat for that very reason. We have garter snakes, squirrels and chipmunks here in the northwest, thus hatchlings in our area are at high risk.
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I also agree with you, Ron.
Even if I like cats, I would love for people to understand that cats should be kept indoors. -
I agree too! Cats should be kept indoors for both the bird's safety and theirs. I have a friend who rigged up a net along the top of the fence surrounding his back yard. The net angled in and his cats weren't able to get a grip and pull themselves over the net. That way they could go outside but not roam the neighborhood.
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A farmer in my area hates crows because he says they eat his corn seed when he plants. Is this true?
I love crows. I have been feeding them for 15 years. Their favorite? Hotdogs! Each morning I put out 3 or 4, not cooked, of course. They love them, as they do pizza, and a dead mouse or two or chipmunk that I catch in my traps.
I like to experiment with different foods, they don't like chocolate chips, at least mine don't. they love raw chicken. They actually sit next to a hawk in my walnut tree some winter mornings, waiting for me. It's a beautiful sight! -
Their are both here in CO but crows are in the neighborhood and ravens are more out of town.
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I am so pleased to see that the evil (non native) fox squirrels are the more likely predator and we do have resident squirrels. When I yell at the squirrels, the crows know they are not the ones being shooed away.
There are many crows in my suburban neighborhood in San Mateo, California. This year the crows nested in the Ash in our front yard. The pair who normally come for walnuts were the "look outs" and cawed with vigor whenever we went in or out. After the nestling was big enough and had moved on to different trees, they started coming back for walnuts. Family duties come first.
There is a somewhat wild area where I do volunteer restoration. The ravens play "keep away" on the updrafts with sticks or small prey. It is great fun to watch them.
As to the benefits of crows; I have seen them mobbing the poor Cooper's hawks. No creature for miles around could be unaware of the hawk's presence. -
Why do mockingbirds follow, and seem to be harassing the crows? I also see the crows doing the same to hawks.
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I have heard these theories: 1.Male crows are impressing females by indicating how protective they are, thus are excellent choices for mates. 2. Crows (males) are genetically programmed to go after any bird that is intruding their territory. I wonder if Dr. McGowan agrees with either of these theories?
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Some species of birds will harass any other bird they feel is a threat to themselves, their nest, or their offspring.
This harassment increases during the breeding season.
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I live in New Orleans, Louisiana and have been feeding and watching a family of crows and a pair of fish crows in my yard for years. Both kinds of crows seem to recognize me when I’m out walking-I don’t know how they can recognize me, but they follow behind or fly in front and caw whether I’m alone, with my dog, or with my children, and if I’m heading back for my house they wait in my Chinese elm or on the shed roof where I throw food for them. (They love unsalted peanuts in the shell, but sometimes I give them leftover roast chicken too.) One of the neighbors said they go after baby birds, but she feeds them too. I think attitudes about them have started to change, at least in the city. They are a daily source of joy for me. I especially love it when the baby crows are brought over by the adults toward the end of summer. I love how insistent they are about being fed.
I am more than happy with the crows, but I do wish I lived some place where I could see ravens too.-
I would love to see ravens here, too! I live in Oregon and the ravens here are found in more remote areas such as deep in the conifer forests or near water falls. The only time I have seen ravens was when I hiked at Silver Falls a few years ago. I recognized their unmistakable "croak."
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Hi,
I'm in Scotland, Britain, so we have a different crow- carrion crow, Corvus corone. We have the same species of Raven, Corvus corax.
I'm lucky enough to live in an area where we have both. (We have 8 species of crow here in Britain. I regularly see all of them other than the Chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), which I've never yet seen.)
Carrion crows come into our garden for food. It's taken them a number of years to trust us enough to come in, and they now actually will come and ask for food. They love dog biscuits and apples, which they will pick up and drop in a water dish before eating. I don't know what the neighbours think of this! But they all know that we feed birds and no one has complained... yet. I do try and explain, to anyone else who complains about corvids taking baby song birds, that they are not the main predator, but yes, some folk are very prejudiced against the corvids.
Your 4th question, - "What birds and other animals might benefit from having crows around? Why? How?"
Well, because the Crows come in and ask for food, the local magpies and jackdaws benefit as they are much less wary and will nip in and grab biscuits before the crows have plucked up the courage, so they benefit! :-)
I think the other corvids see where the crows 'stash' food, so again they benefit from an additional food source.
The crows are alert for predators such as cats or owls (or humans), so other birds and animals will benefit from hearing their alarms calls if they have spotted one.
On the downside of that, the crows don't bother about the sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus), so the song birds are not alerted to it's presence. At least then the sparrowhawk gets his breakfast or food for his young! :-)
The crows don't like squirrels or pigeons, and will nip at them to get them to leave the garden, This leaves the seed feeder and spilt seed available for the song birds.-
I envy you your variety of crows and am entertained by the differences in the actions of your crows as opposed to my American crows. They will pretty much leave the squirrels alone even though I have seen the squirrels go out of their way, like crawling upside down on a wire, to aggravate the crow on the wire below.
Our crows are aware of any and all predators and have a particular call for predators. They did learn that my cat who originally elicited the warning is not a danger and they no longer call when they see him. -
@Mary I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and I have a pair of crows that frequent my yard that I feed daily. What I have noticed with them and the squirrels... if I set up a novel feeding station, the crows are wary and the squirrels or a Steller Jay will partake of the food while the crows watch. However, once the crows became comfortable, they would scare/chase the squirrels away -- including swooping down on them from a tree. At least here, it seemed plausible to me they were watching and using the squirrels to assess safety. I caught some of this on video.
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@Michele Michele, your crows are more proactive than mine. Perhaps they see that I will do the squirrel removal for them. Not that it has any lasting effect. I hate that squirrel!
I also notice that the scrub jays would swoop in to take food as the crows spent time checking out the situation. Since I was originally putting out walnut bits for small birds, I put them in the leaves of a small oak to foil the squirrel. The crows would try to "hover" to pick the walnuts out of the Oak. When I tossed out nuts for ground feeders as I ate lunch, one crow would sidle up to the food as if not looking at it would trick me into thinking that wasn't where he was headed. My crows are not as regular during mating season but return when the nestling(s) are more able to be on their own. -
@Mary So interesting Mary! I just recently became intrigued by crows. A few times last year I saw five or six sitting on a small retaining wall in my backyard. So this April, I decided I would see if I could get more visits if I put some shelled and unsalted peanuts on that wall...and I have. :-)
I'm only ever visited by 2 at a time, although I hear and see many more in the neighborhood trees around here. At dusk I often see many crows flying off overhead in the same direction -- I assume for the evening roost. And I wish I knew where that was.
What I wonder about is territory...? And why am I visited by only 2 at a time?
Also not sure the 2 I see now are the same 2 I started with. Those original two individuals I could visually distinguish (I think!) by relative size, their behavior, and one bird had a feather defect (notch missing) in the right wing.
I used to call this pair Trigger (bigger bolder bird) and Bullet (smaller more cautious bird). Named, because if I pulled Trigger enough times, Bullet would eventually follow. -
@Michele I will blame my inability to tell them apart on increasing cataracts, however there is a time during molting season around August here when I can tell them apart. It is also funny that they seem to visit in pairs. I do remember when mom and dad were here with the two young, the young ones had fluffy round heads. I think those two are my current visitors, but I have no way of verifying that. So frustrating. Everything I report is anecdotal without tags or chips; I have to just enjoy them and share with fellow crow fans.
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@Mary Hi Mary, I do get a lot of pleasure watching their antics. They will grab at the squirrels tails with a little tug, when they think the squirrel hasn't noticed. They do this to each other too, so I do wonder if some of it is actually play.
That's interesting that they have learnt to distinguish your cat as being not a threat. Clever crows! :-) -
How interesting that you have such a variety of crows in Scotland! I have a family of crows (American crow - brachyrhynchos) here in Oregon that I feed each morning in my garden, thus I enjoy studying their habits each year.
Similar to your crows, the American crow seems to know when a predator is nearby, as it will vocalize alarm calls and everyone flies off. Also, whenever a hawk (we have many varieties here in the Pacific northwest) is near, our crows mob the hawk, continuously harrassing it, all the while vocalizing alarm calls and pecking at it whilst it flees. Such brave crows! That is always quite a sight!
Another difference is that our crows seem to tolerate squirrels, despite the fact that they eat the same nuts and seeds that I put out every morning.
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