other grain, nuts, and insects, but they will scavenge like vultures on occasion.
The American crow or common crow is difficult to distinguish by sight from the fish crow in tidewater areas where their territories overlap. However, the American crow has a much more distinctive, longer, less nasal call. Their relative the northern raven is much larger and has a wedge-shaped tail instead of a square one. To humans, male and female crows look alike.
Crows are among the most intelligent of birds. They drop nuts on rocks to break them, and there is video of a crow who figured out how to use a wire hook to lift a small container of food from a deeper container.
This photo is of an American crow pinned against a fence by Lana Whited's and my black-and-tan coonhound, Homer, and saved by Kristina Stump. It is now recovering at a wildlife center in Waynesboro.
American Crow
by Katherine Grimes
Corvus brachyrynchos, the American crow, belongs to the family Corvidae, which consists of crows, ravens, magpies, and jays. The American crow, 17" to 21" long, is black from beak to tail; even its legs and feet are solid black. It's hard to miss crows, as they are among the larger birds in our area and have a loud, distinct call: caw or caw-caw-caw. Crows, often seen in groups, are common throughout most of the lower forty-eight states and, in the summer, the southern half of Canada.
Crows are omnivores; they eat corn and
