Hello, Tweeters,

Sheila Kee, a local birder who lives on the west side of the mouth of
MacDonald Creek between Sequim and Port Angeles, spotted and
photographed a strange crow at her feeder that appears to be a House
Crow (Corvus splendens), a species normally found in India and other
areas of south Asia. House Crows ride on ships and they've
introduced themselves around the world, particularly in Africa,
Australia, and Singapore, where they're considered bad pests. There
is also a small population in Holland, which apparently also arrived
by ship. So if it is a House Crow, it would definitely fall under
the category of ship-assisted, but it's interesting, nonetheless.
Many ships pass daily through the Strait of Juan de Fuca, right by
where Sheila saw the crow.

House Crows are similar in size to our local crows, in-between
"typical" American and Northwestern Crows. They have a black face,
throat, wings, and tail, but with distinctive gray across the back of
the head, neck, upper back, and chest. Although Sheila took her
photos from a distance through a fence, the pictures clearly show the
gray across the bird's upper back and chest. She last saw the bird
and photographed it on June 2, traveling with a group of "normal"
crows. She thinks it may have also been around earlier this spring.

Sheila corresponded with and sent photos to an expert on House Crow
movements, Colin Ryall, an ornithologist in England, who says it
looks to be a real House Crow. Here is his reply:

From: "Colin Ryall" <colin.ryall at ntlworld.com>
Date: June 8, 2010 11:06:20 AM PDT
To: "'Sheila Kee'" <sheila2 at olypen.com>
Subject: RE: possible House Crow?

Dear Sheila
Thank you for letting me know about your very interesting sighting,
one of
which is definitely a House Crow - the one with the pale hood further
back.
I'm pretty sure that the other is as well, from the low crown and
largish
bill and the blacker face. Is the dark colour just an effect of the
lighting? Did it also have a lighter coloured hood? This is only the
second
record ever for the west coast, the other was in Los Angeles Harbour in
1996, though there have been a few more on the east coast, the last in
Hackberry Ridge, Louisiana in 2008.

The other crow Colin Ryall comments about in the picture looks like
one of our local crows to me, just lit from the back so its face
looks darker.

Websites of interest:

http://10000birds.com/the-house-crow-coming-to-a-port-near-you.htm

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/colin.ryall/index.htm

The bird hasn't been seen since June 2, but the word is out so people
will be looking for it. It's traveling with other crows, so
hopefully it will stick around for confirmation and more photos.

Or perhaps it's the latest transfiguration of the Northwestern
Crow???? Until we have more info, I don't think we can totally rule
out an aberrant local crow.

Bob Boekelheide
Sequim
bboek at olympus.net


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