Larch Creek Birds

What the birds (and frogs) are saying at a creek in western Washington
Plate 18
American Crow
Julius Bien / John James Audubon, circ
Bird

American Crow

Corvus brachyrhynchos
Crows, Jays, and Magpies (Corvidae)
Year-round resident. Expected at the creek in every month.
Field marks
All-black with a squared tail and a steady rowing flight; smaller and sleeker than a raven, with a straight, not shaggy, throat.
Male & female
Alike.
Voice
The classic 'caw', plus rattles, clicks and an unsettling range of mimicry.
Diet
Omnivore: insects, carrion, eggs and nestlings, grain, fruit, garbage. Has been seen dropping walnuts on roads for cars to crack, then waiting for the light to change.
Habitat
Fields, towns, shorelines, open woodland; gathers in winter roosts of thousands.
Nesting
A bulky stick nest in a tree. Last year's young often stay to help raise the next brood, which is more than can be said for most families.
Size
16–20 in long, about 1 lb: a loaf of bread that solves puzzles and remembers your face.

The crows of western Washington were long called 'Northwestern Crows'; they are now considered the same species as the American Crow, which the crows had suspected all along.

Season how expected it is here, week by week

50%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecheard at the creektoday
Fig. 1. BirdNET's range model for this location: the chance this species is present in each week of the year. Orange ticks mark weeks it has actually been heard at the creek; the dashed line is today.

At the creek 19 calls on 3 days, first Oct 29, last Oct 31

4900:00 — 0 calls001:00 — 0 calls02:00 — 0 calls03:00 — 0 calls304:00 — 0 calls05:00 — 0 calls06:00 — 0 calls607:00 — 0 calls08:00 — 7 calls09:00 — 0 calls910:00 — 0 calls11:00 — 0 calls12:00 — 0 calls1213:00 — 0 calls14:00 — 0 calls15:00 — 9 calls1516:00 — 3 calls17:00 — 0 calls18:00 — 0 calls1819:00 — 0 calls20:00 — 0 calls21:00 — 0 calls2122:00 — 0 calls23:00 — 0 callssunrisesunset
Fig. 2. When it calls: all detections by hour of day (today's sunrise and sunset shown).
48Oct 2 — 0 callsOct 3 — 0 callsOct 3Oct 4 — 0 callsOct 5 — 0 callsOct 6 — 0 callsOct 7 — 0 callsOct 8 — 0 callsOct 9 — 0 callsOct 10 — 0 callsOct 10Oct 11 — 0 callsOct 12 — 0 callsOct 13 — 0 callsOct 14 — 0 callsOct 15 — 0 callsOct 16 — 0 callsOct 17 — 0 callsOct 17Oct 18 — 0 callsOct 19 — 0 callsOct 20 — 0 callsOct 21 — 0 callsOct 22 — 0 callsOct 23 — 0 callsOct 24 — 0 callsOct 24Oct 25 — 0 callsOct 26 — 0 callsOct 27 — 0 callsOct 28 — 0 callsOct 29 — 8 callsOct 30 — 4 callsOct 31 — 7 callsOct 31
Fig. 3. Calls per day over the last 30 days.

Recordings

Clearest recording · Oct 30 4:11 pm · 94% sure
spectrogram
Recent · Oct 31 3:14 pm · 94% sure
spectrogram
Recent · Oct 31 8:23 am · 90% sure
spectrogram
Recent · Oct 30 4:11 pm · 90% sure
spectrogram

From the encyclopedia

The American crow is a large passerine bird species of the family Corvidae. It is a common bird found throughout much of North America, only absent from the tundra biome. The American crow is the New World counterpart to the carrion crow and the hooded crow of Eurasia, occupying similar ecological niches.
From Wikipedia, "American crow", CC BY-SA 4.0.