Join BirdNote tomorrow, November 30th!
Illustrator David Sibley and actor H. Jon Benjamin will face off in the bird illustration battle of the century during BirdNote's Year-end Celebration and Auction!
Do Crows Sing?
Yes! Each crow’s song is particular to its social group
© Marlin Harms
It’s been said that if someone knows only three birds, one of them will be the crow. They’re common, easy to see, and even easier to hear. But crow voices are complicated. Altogether, crows may use 30 sound elements in different combinations, and one of the most intriguing is their song. Unlike many birds, crows don’t sing loudly to attract mates from a distance. Instead, they sing softly — and at close range — during courtship, with a mix of soft cooing, rattles, growls, bowing movements, and mutual nuzzling.
BirdNote®
Do Crows Sing?
Written by Bob Sundstrom
This is BirdNote.
[American Crow calling, http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/100700, 0.06-.08]
It’s been said that if someone knows only three birds, one of them will be the crow. It's common, easy to see, and even easier to hear. But it turns out, crow voices are very complicated. Altogether, crows may use 30 different sound elements in different combinations, and one of the most intriguing is their song.
Unlike many birds, crows don’t sing loudly to attract mates from a distance. Instead, they sing softly — and at close range — during courtship, with a rich mix of soft cooing, rattles, growls, bowing movements, and mutual nuzzling. [Coo-ing Macaulay 82044]
And a crow’s song is particular to its social group. Studies of captive groups showed that each group develops distinctive sound elements, that become a kind of cultural tradition — a dialect — which crows use to recognize one another.
So even if someone knows only three birds, as long as one of them is the crow, there will always be something new to learn.
For BirdNote, I'm Michael Stein.
Want more BirdNote sounds, images, and stories delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for a preview of the weeks' shows, stories, and stunning photos every Friday morning. Visit BirdNote dot org and sign up today.
###
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. American Crow calling [100700]; song / 'coo-ing' recorded by W L Hershberger. nuzzling and coo-ing [82044} recorded by Eleanor D Brown.
BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Dominic Black
© 2015 Tune In to Nature.org May 2018/2020 / August 2023
Narrator: Michael Stein.
ID# AMCR-07-2020-5-29 AMCR-07
Bob Sundstrom
Writer
Michael Stein
NarratorSights & Sounds
Related Field Notes
Male Marsh Wrens will build several--as many fifteen--dome shaped shells in the reeds to woo fema
The Osprey is the only North American raptor to eat fish almost exclusively, and it's well adapte