Thank you Anne and Jared for sharing on this question. I really like your
suggestion Anne in that these could be juveniles begging. The calls were
nasally but seemed a bit longer than the short 'uh' or 'uh-uh" fish crow calls
I'm used to hearing around Cayuga Lake.
As for the fish comment - well yes on the levity a little Dead fish appear
on the shoreline from time to time (big kills sporadically in the spring), but
I don't know their feeding habits very well, so I assumed that they like being
near waterbodies as it is place to scavenge dead fish or other creatures.
Cheers,
Kevin
Kevin C Packard
166 Surge B
Department of Social Statistics, ILR School
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
607-255-8212
From: anneb.cl...@gmail.com
Sent: Saturday, July 1, 2023 8:35 PM
To: Kevin C Packard
Cc: CAYUGABIRDS-L
Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Fish crow vs American crow ID by merlin
Hi Kevin
I think I see why Merlin was back n forth.
I think your audio is of a demanding American crow fledgling whose nasal begs
come close to the slightly down slurred and nasal ‘simple version’ fish crow.
If you listen toward the end of the recording , you can hear a quickening of
the notes and a slightly ‘gobbling’ sound. That is the fledgling continuing to
beg as it is getting fed—beg calls with a parental bill in its mouth and
swallowing at the same time.
Lots of American Crow fledglings out or just coming out now.
I assume that the comment on fish in the pond was a bit of levity? Maybe it is
worth mentioning that Fish Crows don’t ‘fish’ Or particularly seek fish as far
as I know. But they do seem to like shoreline or river edge scavenging, rather
than foraging on lawns like American crows. And also, less popular with humans,
they seem to be good at finding bird nests in trees.
Anyway—that’s my Id of the crow voice on your audio.
Best, Anne
Sent from my iPhone
On Jul 1, 2023, at 7:39 PM, Kevin C Packard wrote:
Hi everyone,
I was birding at Jennings Pond in Danby the other day and found a group of
crows in trees by the pond which the Merlin app was giving as both fish crow
and American crow. How reliable do you all feel about distinguishing these two
species using Merlin? I made some recordings that includes the cawing from what
Merlin was saying as fish and American crow, but I've thought that here in
Tompkins County that you will see fish crows primarily by Cayuga Lake. Jennings
Pond is at 1,250 ft elevation, but it is one of the larger ponds in the county
and has plenty of fish. The eBird list (giving only American crow) is at
https://ebird.org/checklist/S143150602
Thoughts are welcome!
Kevin
Kevin C Packard
166 Surge B
Department of Social Statistics, ILR School
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
607-255-8212
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