American Crow

Beak

American crows have large, strong black bills capable of cracking, crushing, tearing and cutting all types of food sources.

Appearance

Big, black, and loud! Males and females are alike in appearance.

Food

Extremely varied appetite, favouring corn, dry or wet dog food, eggs (raw, scrambled or hard-boiled), suet, meat scraps, pasta, and leftovers. Food can be supplied on the ground, on feeder trays of other large, sturdy feeders. Since these birds are extremely good at problem-solving, they will figure out quickly how best to obtain food.

Habitat

American crows can be found almost anywhere and are quite common in cities, parks, roadways, open woods, farming areas, beaches, and gardens. They roost in large flocks with several known in Nova Scotia to consist of 2000-5000 individuals during October to March. They build a flimsy nest of sticks and defend their territory aggressively if threatened. These very intelligent birds are fascinating to watch. They interact with each other but can be wary of humans. Their "caws" can act as an alarm for other birds when danger approaches.