Thank you Wayne!

I guess the Birch Bay crows were just being drowned out noise wise by the
pesky gulls also hanging out at the resort. Those gulls were so bold they
came close to waltzing right into our unit to steal the remains of
breakfast! I think they would have had we NOT closed the door to the
balcony!

Lydia Gaebe Bishop
Everett, WA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wayne C. Weber" <contopus at telus.net>
To: "LYDIA GAEBE BISHOP" <gizathecat at aol.com>
Cc: "TWEETERS" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>; "WHATCOM BIRDERS"
<whatcombirds at lists.wwu.edu>
Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2003 2:27 PM
Subject: Re: Birch Bay Crows


> 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