American Crow

Corvus brachyrhynchos

First photographed: March 3, 2026
First location: Colorado, United States
Conservation status: Not Evaluated

American crow looking through the trees at the camera in Fountain, Colorado.

An evolving study

American Crow portfolio

This collection grows as I return to photograph new behavior, habitat, seasons, and stages of life.

Natural history

Species at a glance

Corvus brachyrhynchos

Overview

The American Crow is an adaptable, highly intelligent corvid that lives in family groups and uses a wide range of calls. Communal roosts can contain thousands of birds outside the breeding season.

Identification

Entirely black plumage, bill, legs, and feet with a fan-shaped tail in flight. Its familiar caw, moderate size, and smoother throat feathers help separate it from the larger Common Raven.

Range

Widespread across most of southern Canada and the contiguous United States. Northern populations may migrate while many birds farther south remain resident.

Habitat

Woodland edges, farms, grasslands, beaches, suburbs, towns, landfills, and city parks; generally avoids unbroken forest and very arid treeless country.