Bird watching: crows

Self-tutoring about crows: the tutor mentions the different kinds in Canada.

To quote a boxing coach I knew many years ago – a very good instructor, btw – I’m not getting any younger. He reflected that when I was 30 – can you imagine what he’d say today?

As I get older, I focus more on ideas that have slipped through the cracks. Many seem related to various parts of Canada I’ve lived, and differences between them.

From very young, I’ve been familiar with crows. In the US and Canada, pretty much all of us are, eh? Interestingly, the crows I see on Canada’s Pacific coast are not the same kind as I knew on the Atlantic. Most people probably wouldn’t notice the difference, and I can’t tell, either, but I’ve read about it.

On Canada’s Pacific coast we have the northwestern crow; elsewhere in Canada (and most of the US) you find the American crow. The northwestern crow is meant to be smaller, but not obviously so. Its voice is meant to be different as well, but once again, not necessarily in an obvious way. Yet the two are different species.

One observation I might share about the two birds is that I recall the American crows of the Maritimes being more vocal than the northwestern crows here. Maybe that’s cultural, though: the people show that same difference.

Source:

Hoar, De Smet et al. Birds of Canada. Edmonton: Lone Pine Publishing, 2010.

allaboutbirds.org

allaboutbirds.org