Saturday, September 27, 2014

Memories of a Fish Crow

I remember those days back in upstate New York when I longed to hear the whimsical call of the fish crow.  Those days are in the past, since I moved over 1,000 miles away.  But the other day I heard a quirky call.  I don't remember what it was, but just the quirkiness of it reminded me of a fish crow.  I believe the call was crow-like.

I remember the day I identified the fish crow.  Fish crows in Schenectady, New York are rare, but they do exist.  This is the entry I have on my wild bird life list- the journal, not the website. (They sometimes differ in what I write.)  I wrote it here as it appears in my journal: 

"March 16, 2003 
 Morning
Union College, Schdy, NY

Kept this off my life list long enough.  I waited, maybe 2 years.

Heard AH-OH before, and nasally CAWS, but I needed to hear that Uh-Uh.  I didn't.  I heard Uh-Huh with the accent on the first syllable, sounding almost like Uh-Uh.  It was in the fish crow voice.  That was enough for me.  

Bird flew overhead in the sun[light].  It was almost spiritual.  I saw with naked eyes.  With outstretched wings it flew."

I remember how frustrated I was that the experience only lasted a few seconds because a woman drove up and asked me for directions.  I'm not sure if I was able to help her, but I remember she drove off without even thanking me for my time.  I waited and I waited all that time to identify the fish crow with confidence and this lady suddenly ended my experience.  

But though it was only couple of seconds- to see it flying overhead in the sunlight was a beautiful experience.  

The fish crow "will feed inland but usually feeds in shallow waters along coastline and salt marshes" (Aslop, 2001, p. 497).  They eat a variety of things, including berries, some fruits, fish, and different types of crustaceans.    This clever bird will fly with a mollusk in its beaks and will drop it on a hard surface in order to break it open.  

Parenting duties are shared, as both Mom and Dad incubate eggs.  It takes between 16 to 18 days for eggs to hatch.

Fish crows are capable of hovering- something I have never read about any corvid.   They will hover above while searching for food, then come down out of the sky to make the catch.

Fish crows have short and very nasally CAWs that may even be more nasally than American crow juveniles.  And then, there is the wonderfully funny UH-UH call that sounds like they are saying "No-No."  Their calls are funny and whimsical and I miss them terribly.

Many years ago I read (the source escapes me) that if you want to know if the crow you've come across is an American crow or a fish crow, just ask.  Ask the bird if it is an American crow (I have to add- while keeping a proper distance to not crowd it).  If the bird replies UH-UH, then you know it's not an American crow, but a fish crow!

Sources:
Birds of North America: Eastern Region
by Fred J. Alsop III
DK: New York
2001

All About Birds
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/fish_crow/id.aspx?spp=fish_crow