Which Crow?

I heard this fish crow before I saw it. It was one of a pair having a fairly long distance conversation, probably something spring related, like getting on with building their nest.

The American crow (what most of us think of when we think of a crow) is a bit larger. Both species are native locals, and being corvids they tend to be talkative, and difficult to tell apart on sight alone. American crows say 'caw-caw" the fish crow call is something closer to "ark-ark-ark".

I could tell this was a Fish crow to day because I had Merlin along, a birding app for your smart phone from the Ornithology Lab at Cornell. Melin listens and tells shows you a picture of what bird it think's your listening to. I've have learned to recognize a number of bird calls by using Merlin.

The fish crow, as you'd expect, prefers habitats near water across the eastern and southeastern United States. They are not picky eaters, the'll go for small crustaceans like crabs and shrimp, other invertebrates, stranded or live fish, bird eggs and nestlings, small reptiles, fruits, seeds, nuts, and readily available human scraps. They may even carry a clam or a mussel in flight dropping them on hard surfaces to break the shell.

Fish crows often breed in loose colonies of bulky platform nests high in the forks of trees.