Re: A Mimic I've Been Waiting For...
Don Burggraf (dburggraf@hotmail.com)
Tue, 12 Jan 1999 06:10:02 PST
Dear Greg,
Thanks for your note about the nasal American Crow. I have been
wondering about crow calls for more than a year. I live in Baltimore
City, and I have heard possible fish crows far from the water any number
of times (calling from atop a hosital TV antenna, for excample). I
heard some suspicious crows up in Frederick County, where the only water
running nearby was a river. I have been perplexed, especially when the
crows give a nasal "uh-uhh" call which I have come to associate with
fish crow. I can remember that, years ago when I lived in Allegany
County, I noticed flocks of crows out of which occasional nasal calls
would come. Close observation showed that the same crow was making the
more standard call of the American Crow and the Fish Crow. So, I
learned there to be cautious. However, I have not heard of American
Crows imitating the two syllable note of the fish crow. Do you know of
are any literature that discusses this issue to separate crows more
reliably?
Don Burggraf
Baltimore
dburggraf@hotmail.com
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>Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 09:17:01 -0500
>Subject: A Mimic I've Been Waiting For...
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>
>Howdy All!
>
> This morning (1/11) it finally happened--well, for me
>anyway. I finally heard an American Crow do a rather believable
>Fish Crow call. I watched a single American Crow do it. No
>other crows were present. The famous "ca-a" (a distinct nasal
>quality, the "a" is short as in "cat", and the cadence is like
>someone saying "uh-oh") has fallen. Actually, I'm quite
>surprised I haven't witnessed this before. Maybe some of you all
>have.
>
> Fortunately for me, the "ca-a" was mixed in the normal
>raucous, non-nasal call "caw-caw-caw" of the American Crow.
>Proudly voiced from a perch high atop a telephone pole, it went
>something like this: "caw-caw-caw. ca-a. caw-caw-caw-caw. ca-a."
>Like it was practicing a new addition to its repertoire. It
>didn't quite have the nasalness down pat yet, but it was close
>enough to make me check for sure that there was only ONE crow.
>
>-Greg Miller
>Lusby, MD
>
>
>
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