Binghamton Zoo Animals

American Crow

(Corvus brachyrhynchos)
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Corvidae
Genus: Corvus
Species: brachyrhynchos

HABITAT AND RANGE: American Crows are native to the Nearctic region all over North America. They can be found in the lower part of Canada and through the continental United States. Crows prefer to live in open areas with some nearby trees or in suburban neighborhoods and rural parks.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: Adult American crows are completely black birds weighing on average 450 g. The feathers have a glossy and slightly iridescent look. Crows have strong legs and toes, a black bill with a slight hook on the end and stiff bristles covering their nostrils. 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. In young birds, the ends of tail feathers are symmetrical and are more pointed than the wide, flat-ended feathers of adults. Crows are much smaller than the bird that they are most often compared to, the Raven. Crows sometimes show an apparent wedge shape to the tail, but almost never when it is fanned as the bird soars or banks (except for a brief time during molt in the summer).

ADAPTATIONS: American Crows have an unusual social system - they are cooperative breeders. This means that they may stay close to the place where they were born to help raise young and defend the area against predators. Some American Crows migrate. Researchers have found marked crows from southeastern Michigan as far south as Tennessee, but more often migrants go shorter distances. American Crows 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. It’s believed that there is a chemical in the ants that helps to condition the Crow’s feathers. American Crows are highly vocal birds. Unlike most other songbirds, males and females Crows have the same songs. They have a complex system of loud, harsh caws that are often uttered in repetitive rhythmic series. Crows have shorter and sharp caws for an alarm and softer caws, probably used for greeting.

DIET: Crows are omnivores and will eat almost anything, from bugs and small animals, to road kill or people’s garbage. American Crows store food items such as meat and nuts in short-term caches. Caches are hiding places that are scattered around, rather than in one place. They may be in tree crevices or on the ground, where they are often covered with leaves or other material. Crows forage primarily by walking on the ground and picking up the item, or by walking along tree branches. Crows use tools to get what they want as well. They will hold a nut under one foot and strike it with its bill to open it. To open a particularly heavy-shelled food item a crow will fly high with it and drop it on a hard surface to crack it open.

REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT: Nests are usually built, in one to two weeks, by both males and females high in a sturdy conifer or hardwood tree. Females lay 4 to 5 light green colored eggs with brown markings. The female incubates her eggs for 19 days. While she is sitting on the nest, the female will beg for food like a baby bird, and her mate will bring it to her. The young will leave the nest in 6 to 8 weeks. Most American crows reach sexual maturity and begin to breed when they are two years old. Most crows do not live a full year, however they can live 17 to 21 years, the oldest wild crow was 29 ½ years old, breeders have a 93% yearly survival, on average females are slightly older than 3 years and males are almost 5 years old when they first breed. Crows can mate for life.

STATUS IN WILD: Crows have no special status in the wild.