Corvus ossifragus

• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Physical Description

Habitat

The Fish Crow inhabits a variety of places, being found in urban areas, marshes, and woodlands, but most commonly near the shores of lakes and rivers .

Biology

Diet

The diet of the Fish Crow is variable and includes marine invertebrates , carrion , bird eggs and nestlings, fruit, and seeds. Food is gathered by picking most items up off the ground or out of the nest . The Fish Crow opens mollusks for eating by continuously dropping them on a hard surface to crack them open.

Reproduction

The breeding season begins in late March, peaks from late April into June, and extends into mid-June. The nest is usually in the top of a conifer, but ranges in height (1.8-27 m ; 6-90 feet). The cup-shaped nest is made of sticks and twigs . The female lays 4-5 eggs that she incubates for 16-18 days. The male may also incubate, but this is unknown. The young are altricial and fledge around 21 days after hatching .

• Nest Location: Mid-story/canopy nesting
• Clutch Size: 4-5
• Length of Incubation : 16-18 days
• Days to Fledge: 21+
• Number of Broods: 1

Migration

Nonmigratory

The call of this crow is a nasal , high, single or double note .

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 17-Oct-2001.

Similar Species

American Crow. The Fish Crow is smaller, and has a softer, more nasal call than the Common Crow.

Members of the genus Corvus

There are approximately 194 species in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

C. adsimilis · C. afer · C. affinis · C. alba · C. albicollis (African White-Necked Raven) · C. albus (Pied Crow) · C. americana · C. azureus · C. bacmeisteri · C. benetti · C. bennetti (Little Crow) · C. boreus (Relict Raven) · C. brachyrhynchos (American Crow) · C. brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos (Southern Crow) · C. brachyrhynchos caurinus · C. brachyrhynchos hesperis · C. brachyrhynchos pascuus · C. brachyrhynchos paulus (American Crow) · C. brachyrhynchus · C. brachyrynchos · C. c. corax · C. caledonicus · C. capellanus · C. capensis (Black Crow) · C. capensis capensis · C. capensis kordofanensis · C. caurinus (Northwestern Crow) · C. corax (Southwestern Raven) · C. corax canariensis · C. corax clarionensis (Common Raven) · C. corax corax (Southwestern Raven) · C. corax dardaniensis · C. corax hispanus · C. corax islandicus · C. corax jordansi · C. corax kamtschaticus · C. corax kretae · C. corax laurencei · C. corax laurenci (Common Raven) · C. corax principalis (Common Raven) · C. corax sinuatus (Common Raven) · C. corax ssp · C. corax subcorax · C. corax tibetanus · C. corax tingitanus · C. corax varius · C. cornix · C. cornix cornix · C. cornix kaukasicus · C. cornix pallescens · C. cornix sardonius · C. cornix sharpii · C. cornix syriacus · C. corone · C. corone; cornix (Hooded Crow) · C. corone capellanus · C. corone cornix (Hooded Crow) · C. corone corone · C. corone coronix · C. corone interpositus · C. corone orientalis · C. corone pallescens · C. corone sardonius · C. corone sharpii · C. corone ssp · C. corone x · C. coronoides (Australian Raven) · C. coronoides coronoides (Australian Raven) · C. coronoides inoptatus · C. coronoides perplexus · C. crassirostris (Thick-Billed Raven) · C. cryptoleucus (White-Necked Raven) · C. culminatus · C. dauuricus (Daurian Jackdaw) · C. difficilis · C. edithae · C. enca (Slender-Billed Crow) · C. enca celebensis · C. enca compilator · C. enca enca · C. enca pusillus · C. enca samarensis · C. enca sierramadrensis · C. enca violaceus · C. f. hilgerti · C. florensis (Flores Crow) · C. frugilegus (Rook) · C. frugilegus frugilegus (Rook) · C. frugilegus pastinator · C. frugileus · C. fuscicapillus (Brown-Headed Crow) · C. fuscicapillus megarhynchus · C. hassi · C. hawaiiensis (Hawaiian Crow) · C. hungaricus · C. iliceti · C. imparatus (Tamaulipas Crow) · C. impluviatus · C. infumatus · C. insolens

More Info

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Further Reading

• A checklist of the vertebrate animals of Kansas / George D. Potts, Joseph T. Collins. [Lawrence, Kan.]: Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, 1991. ENG url p. 14.
• A guide to the birds of New England and eastern New York; containing a key for each season and short descriptions of over 250 species, with particular reference to their appearance in the field, by Ralph Huffmann...with four full page plates by Louis Agas BostonHoughton, Mifflin and company1904. ENG url p. 195.
• A history of North American birds, by S.F. Baird, T.M. Brewer, and R. Ridgway. Land birds, illustrated by 64 chromo-lithographic plates and 593 woodcuts. Boston, Little, Brown, 1875. ENG url p. 251.
• A manual of North American birds. By Robert Ridgway. Illustrated by 464 outline drawings of the generic characters. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Company, 1887. ENG url p. 363.
• A manual of the ornithology of the United States and of Canada. By Thomas Nuttall.. . Cambridge, Hilliard and Brown, 1832-1834. ENG url p. 216.
• A popular handbook of the birds of the United States and Canada, by Thomas Nuttall. Boston, Little, Brown, 1903. ENG url p. 131.
• A popular handbook of the ornithology of eastern North America. By Thomas Nuttall. Boston, Little, Brown, and Company, 1896. ENG url p. 131.
• A review of the birds of Connecticut. By C. Hart Merriam. New Haven, Tuttle, Morehouse and amp; Taylor, Printers, 1877. ENG url p. 143.
• American ornithology, or, The natural history of the birds of the United States: illustrated with plates engraved from drawings from nature / by Alexander Wilson and Charles Lucian Bonaparte. Philadelphia: Porter and amp; Coates, [1878?] ENG url p. 129.
• Animal Ecology. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall, 1961. ENG url p. 453.
• Annali di storia naturale. Bologna. url p. 215.
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• Asteroid notes. Northfield, Minn, Goodsell Observatory of Carleton College, 1934-1950. ENG url p. 469.
• Audubon the naturalist; a history of his life and time, by Francis Hobart Herrick.. . New YorkD. Appleton-Century Company, incorporated, 1938. ENG url p. 416.
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• Bird-lore. New York, National Association of Audubon Societies. ENG url p. 102.
• BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, U.K.
• BirdLife International. 2004 Threatened Birds of the World 2004. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.
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• Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands in Field Museum of Natural History. by Charles E. Hellmayr. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1934. ENG url p. 5.
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• Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. London, 1874-98. ENG url p. 29.
• Catalogue of the Collection of Birds' Eggs in the British Museum / By E. W. Oates [and afterwards] by S. G. Reid [and] W. R. Ogilvie-Grant. London, 1901-12. ENG url p. 469.
• Catalogue of the fresh-water fishes of Africa in the British museum (Natural history).. . By George Albert Boulenger, F.R.S. London, Printed by order of the Trustees [by Taylor and Francis]1909-16. ENG url p. 73.
• Check-list of North American birds / prepared by a committee of the American ornithologists' union. Lancaster, Pa.: The Union, 1931. ENG url p. 227, p. 467.
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• Color key to North American birds, by Frank M. Chapman.. . with upward of 800 drawings by Chester A. Reed, B. S. New York, Doubleday, Page and amp; company, 1903. ENG url p. 255.
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Notes

Contributors

• BirdLife International 2004. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.
• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 29, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 8 providers.
• Hines, J. E., Gregory Gough, J. R. Sauer, et al. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
• Peterson, Alan P. Zoological Nomenclature Resource. Accessed June 19, 2009.
• Sauer, J. R., J. E. Hines, and J. Fallon. 2005. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966 - 2004. Version 2005.2. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD
• Sauer, J. R., S. Schwartz, and B. Hoover. 1996. The Christmas Bird Count Home Page. Version 95.1. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 29, 2008:

• Avian Knowledge Network: eBird
• Avian Knowledge Network: Great Backyard Bird Count
• Avian Knowledge Network: Project FeederWatch
• Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics
• Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates: Bird Collection
• Marine Science Institute, UCSB: Paleobiology Database
• Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
• Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History: Santa Barbara Musem of Natural History
• UCLA-Dickey Bird Collection (UCLA-Dickey): Bird specimens
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology (UMMZ): Bird specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3847180
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-179737
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 14383669
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 179737
• IUCN ID: 51159
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: ABPAV10080
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 250

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