Home/Species/ Fish Crow

Corvus ossifragus

Wilson, 1812

Fish Crow

G5Secure Found in 2 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

LowThreat Impact

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101678

Element CodeABPAV10080

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

IUCNLeast concern

Endemicendemic to a single nation

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassAves

OrderPasseriformes

FamilyCorvidae

GenusCorvus

Other Common Names

Corneille de rivage (FR)

Concept Reference

American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.

Taxonomic Comments

Considered conspecific with C. imparatus by some authors (AOU 1983). May or may not constitute a superspecies with C. sinaloae, C. imparatus, and C. palmarum (AOU 1998).

Conservation Status

Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2

Review Date2025-01-08

Change Date1996-12-02

Edition Date2025-01-08

Edition AuthorsGundy, R. L. (2025)

Threat ImpactLow

Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences> 300

Rank Reasons

This species is widespread in much of the eastern United States and the population has been increasing in distribution and population size.

Range Extent Comments

This species is generally considered endemic to the eastern United States, although there are occasional visitors to Canada (McGowan 2020, Fink et al. 2023). It is found along the Eastern Seaboard from New York to Florida, west along the Gulf Coast states to Texas, and north to Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky (McGowan 2020, Fink et al. 2023).

Occurrences Comments

There are many occurrences throughout the range (McGowan 2020, Fink et al. 2023).

Threat Impact Comments

Crows are allowed to be hunted in much of the range (McGowan 2020).

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Beaches, bays, lagoons, inlets, swamps, near marshes, and, less frequently, deciduous or coniferous woodland. In inland situations, primarily in baldcypress swamps and along major watercourses; also garbage dumps and towns (McNair 1989). Nests in tree, usually high, but sometimes as low as 2 m (Harrison 1978).

Reproduction

Clutch size is 4-5. Incubation, apparently by both sexes, lasts 16-18 days. Young leave nest at 21 days or more. Usually nests in small colony of well-spaced pairs.

Terrestrial Habitats

Woodland - HardwoodWoodland - ConiferWoodland - MixedSand/duneSuburban/orchard

Palustrine Habitats

HERBACEOUS WETLANDFORESTED WETLANDRiparian

Other Nations (2)

United StatesN5

Province	Rank	Native
New York	S4	Yes
Virginia	S4	Yes
Louisiana	S5	Yes
Connecticut	S4	Yes
Oklahoma	S5B	Yes
Alabama	S5	Yes
South Carolina	S5	Yes
Maryland	S5	Yes
Texas	S3B	Yes
Pennsylvania	S5B	Yes
North Carolina	S5B,S5N	Yes
New Jersey	S5B,S5N	Yes
Tennessee	S3	Yes
District of Columbia	S1N,S3B	Yes
Missouri	SNR	Yes
Kentucky	S3B	Yes
Florida	S4	Yes
Ohio	SNR	Yes
Arkansas	S4	Yes
Maine	S1B	Yes
Georgia	S5	Yes
Illinois	S2	Yes
West Virginia	S2B,S2N	Yes
Rhode Island	S2B,S2N	Yes
Mississippi	S5B	Yes
New Hampshire	S3	Yes
Massachusetts	S4	Yes
Vermont	S1B	Yes
Delaware	S5	Yes

CanadaN1B,N3N

Province	Rank	Native
Ontario	S1B,S3N	Yes

Threat Assessments

Threat	Scope	Severity	Timing
5 - Biological resource use	Large (31-70%)	Slight or 1-10% pop. decline	High (continuing)
5.1 - Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Large (31-70%)	Slight or 1-10% pop. decline	High (continuing)
5.1.1 - Intentional use (species being assessed is the target)	Large (31-70%)	Slight or 1-10% pop. decline	High (continuing)
5.1.3 - Persecution/control	Large (31-70%)	Slight or 1-10% pop. decline	High (continuing)

Roadless Areas (2)

Virginia (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Adams Peak	George Washington National Forest	7,135
Kelley Mountain	George Washington National Forest	7,590

References (21)

American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Balda, R. P., and G. C. Bateman. 1971. Flocking and annual cycle of the piñon jay, Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus. Condor 73:287-302.
Bent, A.C. 1946. Life histories of North American jays, crows, and titmice. U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull. 191. Washington, D.C.
Droege, S., and J.R. Sauer. 1990. North American Breeding Bird Survey, annual summary, 1989. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Report 90(8). 22 pp.
Fink, D., T. Auer, A. Johnston, M. Strimas-Mackey, S. Ligocki, O. Robinson, W. Hochachka, L. Jaromczyk, C. Crowley, K. Dunham, A. Stillman, I. Davies, A. Rodewald, V. Ruiz-Gutierrez, and C. Wood. 2023. eBird Status and Trends, Data Version: 2022; Released: 2023. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. doi: 10.2173/ebirdst.2022
Goodwin, D. 1986. Crows of the world. Second edition. Univ. Washington Press. 300 pp.
Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
Harrison, H. H. 1979. A field guide to western birds' nests. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 279 pp.
Horn, H. S. 1968. The adaptive significance of colonial nesting in the Brewer's Blackbird. Ecology 49:682-694.
Johnston, D. W. 1961. The biosystematics of American crows. Washington. 127 pp.
Ligon, J. D. 1971. Late summer-autumnal breeding of the piñon jay in New Mexico. Condor 73:147-153.
McGowan, K. J. 2020. Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. doi: 10.2173/bow.fiscro.01
McNair, D. B. 1989 (1987). Status and distribution of the fish crow in the Carolinas and Georgia. Oriole 52:28-45.
Moore, W. S., and R. A. Dolbeer. 1989. The use of banding recovery data to estimate dispersal rates and gene flow in avian species: case studies in the Red-winged Blackbird and Common Grackle. Condor 91:242-253.
Rosenberg, K.V, A.M. Dokter, P.J. Blancher, J.R. Sauer, A.C. Smith, P.A. Smith, J.C. Stanton, A. Panjabi, L. Helft, M. Parr, P.P. Marra. 2019. Decline of the North American avifauna. Science. Published online. 19 Sep 2019.
Tarvin, K. A., and G. E. Woolfenden. 1999. Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata). No. 469 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors. The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 32pp.
Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Thompson, F. R., III. 1994. Temporal and spatial patterns of breeding brown-headed cowbirds in the midwestern United States. Auk 111:979-990.
Williams, L. 1952b. Breeding behavior of the Brewer blackbird. Condor 54:3-47.
Willson, M. F. 1966. Breeding ecology of the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ecological Monographs 36:51-77.

Corvus ossifragus

Habitat

Reproduction

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