Fish Crow at Whitby Harbour

Fish Crow continues at Whitby Harbour on 3 November 2019.. People throw food for the gulls and the Fish Crow is quick to grab some. The BNA (Birds of North America) says Fish Crow is endemic to the United States (endemic - found only in a certain location). This is no longer true. The first documented breeding of Fish Crows in Ontario and Canada was in 2018. (Article by Luc Fazio in the August 2019 issue of the journal Ontario Birds.)

 

Video: Fish Crow dominates Ring-billed Gulls

The Fish Crow is smaller than the Ring-billed Gulls, and very spunky and aggressive. Wing-pulling behavior towards Ring-billed Gulls at a food source, which is shown in the video, is mentioned in The BNA (Birds of North America) online. Whitby Harbour on 3 November 2019.

 

The Fish Crow often flies from the harbour breakwall to the parking lot, providing a good opportunity to study its wingtip pattern, which is different from American Crow. Fish Crow wingtip pattern shows Primary 9 (P9) is the same size or longer than P5. Primaries are numbered from in to the outside so that the outside small feather is P10. On American Crows P5 is longer than P9. This gives the wing on Fish Crow a more pointed appearance.

 

Fish Crow on the break wall with Ring-billed Gulls. Whitby Harbour on 3 November 2019.

 

Links

Fish Crow at Whitby Harbour on 6 and 13 October 2019

 

Fish Crow at Bluffers Park on 18 April 2019