Lydia,

In all likelihood, the differences you observed between crows in Birch
Bay and those in Everett were real. I've done a lot of birding in
western Whatcom County, and the crows there, as far as I can determine
(based on size, calls, etc.) are pure Northwestern Crows. (So are all
the crows seen on the B.C. coast-- there are no reliable reports of
American Crows there.)

By the time you get as far south as Snohomish County, however, the
crows are part of a hybrid population of Northwestern X American
Crows, and should be larger than those at Birch Bay. The farther south
you go in western Washington (and the farther east toward the
Cascades), the more dominant American Crow genes become in this hybrid
population.

Northwestern Crows are not usually less noisy than American Crows (or
birds from the hybrid swarm), and their calls are just as irritating!
However, if you compare Northwestern Crow calls with those of American
Crows from east of the Cascades, there are sharp differences. The caws
of Northwestern Crows are higher-pitched and more nasal than those of
American Crows.

By the way, Northwestern Crows are still officially considered a
separate species, although they probably shouldn't be. However, the
critical research that would prove that Americans and Northwesterns
are the same species still hasn't been done, so the A.O.U. maintains
them as separate species.

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net


----- Original Message -----
From: Lydia Gaebe Bishop <gizathecat at yahoo.com>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2003 10:25 AM
Subject: Birch Bay Crows


Hi Tweeties,

My husband and I just got back from a VERY SOGGY and WINDY visit to
Birch Bay. We didn't get to do much of anything we wanted to do
because of the frightful weather. Our plans included some birding and
visiting Mount Baker for some photography. (Found a really nice Liz
Claiborne suit at a consignment store in Lynden though....)

But I do have a question about the crows that hung around the resort.
These crows were so TINY compared to the ones that hang around in my
backyard. Nor were the crows as noisy as my backyard crows.

Were these little crows members of the Northwestern Crow sub species?

Thanks,
Lydia Gaebe Bishop
Everett