Social, resourceful —: The fascinating American crow

By Sara Scudier

OSU Extension volunteer naturalist

American crows, Corvus brachyrhynchos, are common throughout most of the lower 48 states outside the Southwestern deserts. You can find them in open areas near patches of woods or in human-modified landscapes such as city parks, garbage dumps, campgrounds, manicured lawns, athletic fields, cemeteries and parking lots. Listen for their loud cawing.

Adult American crows are completely black and weigh about a pound. They have glossy and slightly iridescent feathers, strong legs and toes, and a black bill with a slight hook on the end — the source of the species name, brachyrhynchos, meaning “short-beaked.” Young crows are about the same size as adults, but have blue eyes and pink inside the mouth. Both the eyes and mouth darken as the bird becomes an adult. The wing and tail feathers of the young can become quite brown and ragged through the first winter and spring and only become darker and glossier like adult feathers after the first molt.

American crows eat a vast array of foods, including grains; seeds; nuts; fruits; berries; many kinds of small animals such as earthworms and mice; many insects, including some crop pests; and aquatic animals such as fish, young turtles, crayfish, mussels and clams. Crows don’t regularly visit feeders, but you can attract them to your yard if you offer a mix of trees, open space and food — peanuts are a good attractant. Crows are also attracted by compost, garbage or pet food they can feed on.

American crows are considered among the most intelligent birds, though there’s little scientific evidence to prove this. They’re resourceful in their food habits and are extremely difficult for researchers to capture in traps. They engage in a fascinating behavior called “anting.” A crow will position itself over an anthill and allow ants to scramble among its feathers, or it may pick up an ant and smear its feathers with it. Crows are known to drop hard-shelled nuts onto a street, and then wait for passing automobiles to crack them. Similarly, along the coast they drop mussels and other shellfish on rocks to crack the shells and expose the flesh.

They are highly social, more often seen in groups than alone. In addition to roosting and foraging in numbers, they often stay together in year-round family groups that consist of the breeding pair and offspring from the past two years. The whole family cooperates to raise young. American crows work together to harass or drive off predators, a behavior known as “mobbing.” The loud, excited calls of crows are characteristic and may lead you to sighting a local bird of prey.

To learn more about these interesting birds, go to: http://go.osu.edu/crows.