Ohio birders:
Yesterday I discovered an apparent FISH CROW in University Heights, OH,
a near-east suburb of Cleveland. Michelle Leighty joined me in the
field, and within ten minutes we were had found a nest that is still
under construction, with SIX crows attending the nest.
I hesitated to put a 100% certain ID on the bird, and instead posted
about the birds to the ID-Frontiers listserv. Immediately I received
comments supporting our identification of the bird, including
unequivocal support of the birds' identification as Fish Crow from David
Sibley. I am still soliciting input on the identification.
One field mark I forgot to mention, and one that Jen Brumfield noted as
soon as she saw the images, is that the throat feathers are ruffled
while the bird was vocalizing, which is a Fish Crow feature.
At least one bird has been feeding in the Heinen's grocery store parking
lot on Green Road just south of Cedar Road in University Heights.
2180 South Green Road
University Heights, OH 44121
The nest is a ways to the south. I am hesitant to post the exact
location because the nest is still under construction. When Michelle
and I were in the area, the birds would not go to the nest if we were
standing ANYWHERE nearby. They only approached the nest if we were in
the car, and I suspect that even then they were not in a relaxed state.
The birds are VERY active and call frequently, so there is no need to
harass the birds by standing close to the nest. The nest is located at
a house with no visible number on it on Rocklyn Road in Shaker Heights,
and is apparently number 2677. Basically, get yourself to the
intersection of Sherburne and Rocklyn roads and you will detect the birds.
Below is what I posted to ID-Frontiers. It is also on the Facebook
group Birding Ohio for additional discussion. You can follow the
discussion on the ID-Frontiers listserv through this website if you are
not a subscriber:
http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/FRID.html
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Hi folks:
Yesterday afternoon I heard a nasal, descending "ahh" call coming from a
crow in a Cleveland, OH suburb, then located the bird and took photos
and audio. The bird appeared smaller than a typical American Crow, and
all vocalizations were nasal. Michelle Leighty joined me for more
detailed observations, photos, and call recording, and we watched the
bird fly off to the south where we eventually found a nest. The nest
was being attended by up to six birds. All of the birds gave nasal
calls that resemble calls I've heard from Fish Crows elsewhere. They
never gave the more diagnostic two-noted "uh uh" that I'm also used to
hearing from Fish Crows, but they never gave American Crow calls. The
only other vocalization that we noted was a somewhat high pitched rattle.
This morning we watched the nest for a few more hours. An American Crow
was in the area, but never at the nest. The nest is still under
construction, and the bird(s) responsible for building the nest always
gave nasal calls if they make any noise.
Fledged young American Crows give calls that can be confused with Fish
Crow, but it is too early in the season for this (the birds lack any
juvenile-like plumage and soft part characters). Female American Crows
also can give begging calls at the initiation of the nesting season, but
we can hear the call coming from at least three different individuals at
a time. But do second year (SY) helpers at the nest continue to give
fledgling-like nasal calls? I don't see an answer to this in the
literature anywhere.
I'm not sure what to call these birds.
Evidence in favor of Fish Crow:
-The first bird I located was giving nasal calls, but not in the
presence of other crows. No American-like vocalizations were noted.
-This first bird also seemed slimmer and thin-billed.
-Wing shape (see below)
Evidence against Fish Crow:
-The birds never ever give the two-syllabled "uh uh"
-There are six birds at the nest. According to BNA accounts, this is a
routine number of helpers for American Crow, but Fish Crows are only
known to have a single helper (and it is possibly not a relative, as
there is some antagonistic behavior between them)
Characteristics I can't judge without direct comparisons:
glossy aspect of plumage
leg length
overall size
The other field mark that is important for identifying these birds is
the comparison of the length of P9 to P5. Kevin McGowan's webpage has a
nice summary of this characteristic, as does a quiz from Cape May:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/FishCrow.htm
http://www.birdcapemay.org/tigrina/2007/quiz_1207.shtml
This characteristic is difficult to use in the field, even with
photographs, as the angle between the wing and the observer can greatly
influence the appearance of the primaries' length. The first bird I
observed also has something wrong with its left wing, possibly missing a
primary or two. I've labeled the primaries on the wings in a few images
at my Flickr page, below. To my eye, P9 is quite a bit longer than P5 on
both of the birds that we photographed.
Michelle and I obtained photos of at least two individuals (one with the
problem on the left wing and one without), as well as recordings of the
vocalizations:
PHOTOS:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ornitholoco
AUDIO:
http://soundcloud.com/ornitholoco
The audio is unedited, but the recording from 3:49pm is perhaps the most
useful. The recording from 5:26pm is typical of what is heard around the
nest.
I can see two ways to interpret all of this. Either 1) Fish Crows have
set up their first ever nest for Ohio and have an unusual number of
helpers at the nest, or 2) an after-second year (ASY) American Crow pair
has four second year (SY) offspring helping at the nest and the ASYs
stay silent while the SYs give constant begging calls that resemble Fish
Crow.
Any insight would be appreciated!
Andy
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--
Andy Jones, Ph.D.
Director of Science
William A. and Nancy R. Klamm Endowed Chair of Ornithology
and Head of Department of Ornithology
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
1 Wade Oval Drive, University Circle
Cleveland, OH 44106
http://www.cmnh.org/Ornithology.aspx
Photography: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ornitholoco
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