I believe this issue has been discussed, but a brief review is in order.
Most active Western Washington birders don't believe in the "Northwestern
Crow." That is, after 25 years of seeing crows round about Puget Sound
we have thrown up our hands at separating two "species," since there is
no longer any ecological barrier nor, apparently, any behavioral or vocal
barrier separating what at one time no doubt were allopatric crow
populations. The obvious differences in voice one is struck by upon
arrival from back east or wherever is not at all apparent if one drives
I-90 from Ellensburg ("American Crow") to Seattle (crow sp.) to Vancouver
("Northwestern Crow"). Definitive analyses of vocalizations remain to be
done, & likewise DNA analyses, but morphological evidence (and informal
vocal evidence) suggest the view that the northwestern crow intergrades
clinally with adjacent American crow populations throughout the Puget
Sound region.

Gene Hunn (hunn at u.washington.edu)

On Mon, 21 Aug 1995, Alexander (Sandy) Koonce wrote:

> On a recent trip to Washington, I observed some crows along the Strait on
> the north side of the Olympic Peninsula. They certainly sounded
> different from the American Crows that I'm familiar with and they were
> along the shore, but with no experience with the bird, I was wondering
> how one tells if they were Northwestern Crows.
>
> Would someone mind filling me in on what is known both about the
> identification of this species and its distribution in Washington? How
> common are hybrids (and how the heck does one know when one has seen a
> hybrid)?
>
> I am not signed on to Tweeters, so I would appreciate responses sent to
> me directly.
>
> Thanks very much!
>
>
>
> Sandy Koonce
> Department of Mathematics
> University of Redlands, Redlands, CA
> koonce at ultrix.uor.edu
>
>