Measurements
Both Sexes
- Wingspan
- 30.3 in
77 cm
Other Names
- Le Corneille d'Alaska (French)
- Cuervo Noroccidental (Spanish)
Cool Facts
- The Northwestern Crow may be only a subspecies of the American Crow. The two are extremely similar, differing just in size and voice. In the Puget Sound area a number of intermediate crows can be found, and just what species is the common one there is difficult to determine.
Habitat
Open Woodland
Northwestern Crows live near the coast and forage along bays, tidepools, and river deltas. They are also increasingly common in villages, towns, and campgrounds. They also nest on coastal islands, but typically move to the mainland for winter. Northwestern Crows are not often found in deep forest.
Food
Omnivore
Like most crows, Northwestern Crows are omnivores. They eat marine and terrestrial invertebrates, seize fish from tidepools, catch snakes, amphibians, small birds, and small mammals, steal bird eggs and nestlings, and also take fruit, seeds, garbage, and carrion.
Nesting
Nesting Facts
- Clutch Size
- 3–6 eggs
- Number of Broods
- 1 broods
- Egg Length
- 1.6 in
4 cm - Egg Width
- 1.1–1.1 in
2.8–2.9 cm - Incubation Period
- 17–20 days
- Nestling Period
- 29–35 days
- Egg Description
- Blotchy pale green, blue, and gray.
- Condition at Hatching
- Blind and helpless; minimally covered in down.
Nest Description
The nests of Northwestern Crows are made of branches that range up to a foot in length. The female is the primary nest builder, but the male accompanies her as she works. When they nest on the ground, Northwestern Crows use just a few branches or twigs to make the nest exterior. The nest cup is made of grass, moss, soil, strips of bark, feathers, and leaves. Nests are about a foot across and 9 inches deep, with an inner cup about 6 inches across and 4 inches deep.
Nest Placement
Tree
Northwestern Crow pairs visit several sites before choosing where to nest. Typically this will be in the interior of a tree or shrub, in a blackberry tangle, or on the ground against trunks, in grasses along cliffs, or under tree trunks.
Behavior
Ground Forager
Northwestern Crows often walk along the ground to forage. In flight, they have regular wing beats but sometimes glide or soar on their strong wings. While breeding pairs are monogamous and may stay together for several year, extra-pair copulation is common. In winter, Northwestern Crows of all ages roost together in a complex hierarchical system. Flocks communicate through a variety of signals and sounds, gathering quickly to mob predators. Like some other members of the crow family, they've also been seen "playing," by dropping and catching in midair a small item such as a twig.
Conservation
Least Concern
Common and increasing.
Credits
- Verbeek, N. A. M., and R. W. Butler. 1999. Northwestern Crow (Corvus caurinus). In The Birds of North America, No. 407 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.