Winnakee Land Trust Fall-Winter Newsletter 2016 | Page 4

Tierney's Tidbit: The Thing About Crows
The American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) is a common
sight in our part of the world, and easily identifiable by
even the least bird savvy among us. Often detested for their
loud cawing, attacking song birds, and “spoiling” of corn and
other food crops, these birds are deserving of our respect
and admiration.
Crows belong to a group known as the Corvids, which includes jays and magpies. Forty
species of crows are known worldwide; however, in New York, a large all-black bird is either
an American crow or a common raven. The American crow is smaller than the common raven
standing approximately 18 inches tall. Crows have a smaller, less substantial bill than the
raven, have fan-shaped tails while ravens have wedge-shaped tails, and make a series of caws

Board of Directors
Sally L. Mazzarella
President
Carl Meyer
First Vice President & Treasurer
Lisa Camp
Second Vice President

while ravens use a guttural croaking sound (among other sounds).

Robert Wills
Secretary

Crows, as well as other corvids, are among the most intelligent birds and are known to use and

George Allen

construct tools. A captive crow was observed using a cup to carry water to a bowl of dry mash.

Caroline Carey

Wild crows will use sticks, which they will size as needed, to retrieve food from holes. Crows

Andrew Cooley

are extremely social, and unlike their raven brethren, will live in complex family groups.
During winter months, crows will congregate together to form communal roosts consisting of
between hundreds to millions of crows! Young crows do not breed until reaching the age of 2-4
years old, instead helping their parents raise new broods. Wild crows can live up to 16 years,
while captive crows have been reported living up to 59 years!
composes a very small part of their diet. Crows will eat just about anything including grains, seeds,
nuts, fruits, berries, and many kinds of small animals. Crows, like other corvids, store seeds in
caches in numerous places in a behavior called scatter-hoarding. Crows cache more seeds than they
can eat and scatter-hoarding quickly becomes seed dispersal that allows trees to colonize new areas.
Tierney Rosenstock is Land Projects Manager for Winnakee Land Trust.

$250
$500
$1,000 $2,500
or other amount $__________

Sean Kemp
John Lyons
Frank Margiotta
Barbara Markell
Jonathan Mensch
Wilfred Relyea
William Volk

Staff

Yes! I would like to support the work of
Winnakee Land Trust with a contribution to the Year-End Campaign!

$100

Michael Katz
Sue Kelly Fitzgerald
Lauren Kingman

Despite being known for eating carrion, crows cannot break the skin of a dead animal so carrion

$50

Kathleen Davis
Charles R. Jacob

$5,000

Enclosed is my tax-deductible contribution of $ ___________to Winnakee Land Trust.

Enclosed is my employer’s matching gift form.
Please charge to my credit card:
CC number: __________________________________________________
Exp. Date:____________ CCV: ___________
Name:________________________________________________________
Billing address: _______________________________________________
City: _____________________ State:_______Zip:_________
Tel:_____________________ E-mail:_____________________________
Thank You!
Gifts to Winnakee Land Trust are fully tax-deductible.

Gregg Swanzey
Executive Director
Ellen Henneberry
Director of Development
Tierney Rosenstock
Land Projects Manager
Nadine Slowik
Development Assistant
Winnakee Land Trust
Post Office Box 610
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
[phone]
winnakee.org