Pied Crow Factoids:

A quick summary of some research on this species ...

1. The species is numerous and widespread in Sub-Saharan Africa. 
However, over the past 8-10 years, there have been records from 
northern Africa, the Canary Islands, and NW Spain. Extralimital 
breeding is now documented in Morocco (can you say hurricanes?).

2. There are records of of this species perched onboard ships at sea, 
including at least one photo. (can you say, Port of Baltimore?)

3. The species is known to depend on mankind for existence ... there 
is a published paper that documents this. (Can you say House Sparrow, 
European Starling)?

4. The species is kept in captivity in some institutions, including a 
number in North America. The Baltimore Zoo is currently shown to hold 
3 Pied Crow hybrids. If anyone has contacts with the zoo, you might 
want to check to see if they have had an escapes in recent years, 
especially prior to Mar 2006.

5. The species is raised as pets and for movie work (can you say 
Windex?); however, they sell for thousands of dollars, so owners will 
probably not casually release them into wild as they do with 
parakeets and cockatiels (boo ...) and likewise, owners will probably 
take care to keep them from escaping.

6. Captive birds will likely be banded to their value. (Shireen 
mentioned a band, but I don't think I've seen a reference to a band 
on this bird ... did I miss something?)

7. An banded escapee from the Barcelona Zoo was found 100km away 10 
days later, so they can fly well even after being kept in captivity.

Phil


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Phil Davis      Davidsonville, Maryland     USA
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