On Sun, Tyler wrote:

>>Tweeters -
>>
>>I just have to ask. All the crows I see flying over my house by the
>hundreds
>>each afternoon are . . .? Are they American or Northwestern? I've been
>>entering them into my Birder's Diary as American and if they aren't
>American,
>>I'd sure like to change what I've entered.

To which Nigel answered:

>I'm sure several more qualified people will answer this, but here's a start.
>
>Almost all the birders I know around here have given up trying to
>distinguish American (AC) and Northwestern (NC) Crows because the local
>subspecies of American Crow is smaller than most, so that they are
>essentially indistinguishable in the field. Also, none of the reported
>fieldmarks seem to work reliably:-- good luck trying to separate them by
>voice, for example. <<snip>>

I must admit to being both amused and befudled whenever this topic comes up
every now and then on this list. I grew up surrounded by NW Crows south of
Vancouver, BC. For the past 16 years, I have lived in the interior of BC
surrounded by Am Crows. I have absolutely no trouble distinguishing between
the two species whenever I travel down to the coast. The little coastal runts
just look like they would never be able to hold their own against an interior
bird in a blind alley. And they *do* talk a different strain of crow talk
than the inland birds.

IMO, there are two clear species but the Puget Lowland Tweetsters'
perspectives are clouded by being surrounded by a dimensionally smaller
population of Am Crow.

- Jack
---------------------------
Jack Bowling
Prince George, BC
jbowling at direct.ca