Complete Guide To The American Crow

American Crow Notes

• American Crows are widely considered to be one of the most intelligent bird species.
  • They can mimic sounds—although not to the extent of the Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) or tropical parrot species.
• American Crows eat an omnivorous diet, which likely helps explain why this species has been so persistently successful, even despite constant encroachment by humans.
  • Their diet consists of seeds, nuts, agricultural grain, fruit, insects, small mammals, bird nestlings, fish, carrion, and human food.
    • American Crows even prey on Little Brown Bats (Myotis lucifugis), either by lying in wait to attack as the bats emerge in the evening or by following the bats into their caves (Flashpohler 2017, https://doi.org/10.1676/16-056.1).
  • Crows can become pests to farmers, as they congregate in huge flocks and eat the farmers’ seed from newly planted fields. Farmers have tried many different techniques to prevent crow depredation, such as the “scarecrow”. Unfortunately, American Crows are so smart that no static scare tactic works for very long.
  • While very destructive to farmers’ grain, American Crows eat enormous numbers of insects that also destroy farmers’ crops, like grasshoppers and cutworms (Bull and Farrand, Jr. 1994).
  • Like owls, American Crows cast pellets consisting of indigestible material, like sand particles, seed husks, and bones (Annala et al. 2012, https://doi.org/10.1656/045.019.0313).
• American Crows are observant, raucous, and live in extended family groups that consist of a single breeding pair and several offspring from past broods. The group cooperates to feed nestlings and for their own defense. American Crows squawk their familiar, hoarse “CAW CAW” call readily in response to nearby intruders.
• Raptors, such as hawks, ospreys, eagles, and owls are the American Crow’s traditional enemies. Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) and Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) are the biggest threats, but any raptor species is dangerous to crows.
  • American Crows will “mob” any hawk or owl (of any size) that they discover.
  • “Mobbing” is a defensive behavior intended to drive dangerous predators away from the crows’ area.
    • American Crows become very agitated upon sighting a nearby hawk, owl, or other raptor. They attempt to irritate the intruder by cawing loudly and incessantly in its direction. If the raptor fails to fly off, the crows may start to dive-bomb the intruder.
    • American Crows are so observant and dedicated to driving off raptors that watching them for mobbing behavior is an excellent way of finding hawks and owls in the wild.
  • Unfortunately, mobbing raptors is an exceedingly dangerous behavior. Many raptors, especially Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis), are very agile in flight and capable of twisting to clench an attacking crow in its sharp talons.
• Common Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are a major predator of American Crow eggs and chicks but are much less dangerous to adult crows because raccoons can’t fly. Crows will mob any raccoon they see to protect their nests and young but mob more aggressively against Great Horned Owls.
  • A study by Jessica L. Yorzinski and Sandra L. Vehrencamp researched American Crows’ response to a Common Raccoon model and a Great Horned Owl model.
  • The crows sounded the first vocal alarm sooner in response to the Great Horned Owl, and mobbed the Great Horn Owl model longer than the Common Raccoon. Additionally, more crows joined the mob against the owl than the raccoon (Yorzinski and Vehrencamp 2009, https://doi.org/10.1525/cond.2009.080057).