The Crafty American Crow

BirdNote®

The Crafty American Crow

Written by Frances Wood

This is BirdNote!
[Crows cawing]
Crows. Large, black, noisy. Some people love them; others aren’t so sure.
[Flock of crows cawing]
Crows are opportunistic feeders. They can eat just about anything—snakes, frogs, fish, fruit, seeds, and carrion. They’ve also learned to peck though our trashcans and visit our landfills.
Crows may devour other birds’ eggs or steal baby birds from a nest to consume or feed to their own young. Understandably, that puts some people off. They become the “bad boys of Spring.” [Alarm call of the American Robin and crows cawing in background]
But crows are resourceful. There’s no denying that! A crow can pick a clam off the beach, fly into the air, and drop the clam on a hard surface to break it and expose the animal inside. Crows can even remove the meat from the shell of a crab.
Crows have adapted to our modern world. For one thing, they, too, have a taste for fast food. Next time you’re near your local burger joint, check out the dumpster to see if crows have gathered there. You may find a crow free-for-all! [Loud crow ruckus]
For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.
BirdNote gives you the sounds of birds every day -- and you can get the sights, as well, when you follow us on Instagram @BirdNoteRadio
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Calls of crows provided by: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, recorded by G.A. Keller. Alarm call of the American Robin recorded by R.S. Little.
Ambient track of urban sounds provided by Kessler Productions. 
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2011 Tune In to Nature.org   March 2011 / 2021   Narrator: Michael Stein

ID: 030305AMCR       AMCR-01-MS-2009-03-03    AMCR-01b