Subject: Alaskan NW crows
Date: Jan 7 10:05:23 1999
From: M. Donahue - mgd at u.washington.edu


I grew up birding in the Seattle area, and my sentiments regarding the
common crow/northwestern crown echo most of those that have been posted
recently.

I would like to add that in 1986 I spent 10 days in southeast
Alaska (Sitka-Petersburg-Glacier Bay--Ketchikan) and I kept thinking that
the TINY black things on the beaches were grackles. They also sounded
completely different from what I was used to the Seattle crows sounding
like.

So while we're speculating about the crow situation, remember that the
"northwestern" crow has an EXTENSIVE coastal range outside of Washington.
To make decisions regarding it's taxonomy soley on what's happening here
at the south end of it's range might be premature without looking at a
this species in a broader context.

Mike

Michael Donahue
University of Washington Medical Center
Seattle, Washington
(206)598-3806
mgd at u.washington.edu