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Jays and Crows

20 Bird Species

American Crow

All black. Bill strong, stout, and black. Black back with hint of gloss. Fish Crows are smaller and sound different. Northwestern Crows may be indistinguishable, but may have faster wing beats, are smaller, sound hoarser, and probably do not overlap in range. more...

Length: 45 cm Wingspan: 99 cm

Black-billed Magpie

This black and white bird is nearly crow-sized and has an extremely long tail that is about double the body length. Bill black, culmen curved. Eye brownish. Head, breast and back black. Belly and shoulder-patch white. Wings greenish-blue. Legs, vent and under tail coverts black. At close range the ta more...

Length: 48 cm Wingspan: 63 cm

Blue Jay

This is a fairly large blue and white bird with a distinctive crest and a sturdy all dark bill. It has a whitish face with black forehead and eye line. Crest and nape blue. Black collar on chest extending onto head. Back deep blue; chin and belly whitish gray. Wings and tail light blue with dark barr more...

Length: 28 cm Wingspan: 41 cm

Brown Jay

This large jay is nearly the size of a crow, dusky brown above and on the breast, and whitish gray on the belly. Adults have a heavy, dark bill, while immatures have yellow bills. Head, back, wings and tail are dark sooty brown. Eye dark. Upper breast dark sooty brown fading to medium brown on the lo more...

Length: 42 cm Wingspan: 66 cm

Chihuahuan Raven

Raven-like in shape, but much smaller. Size similar to crows. All black. Heavy, stout, grayish bill. Slightly shaggy feathers on throat. Neck feathers white-based occasionally visible when feathers ruffled. Legs grayish-black. In flight, graduated, wedge-shaped tail. Similar to Common Raven but small more...

Length: 49 cm Wingspan: 112 cm

Clark's Nutcracker

Suggests a small gray crow with black wings. Bill is proportionally long, narrow, and very pointed. Face may have whitish wash. Head, back, and belly gray. Wings black. Tail black with broad white edges above and all white below. In flight, wide white tail edges conspicuous; wings black with prominen more...

Length: 30 cm Wingspan: 61 cm

Common Raven

Large, all glossy black. Very heavy bill with curved culmen. Shaggy feathers on throat. Wings and tail are fairly long. Separated from crows by its much heavier bill, larger size, and wedge-shaped tail. Flight is more raptor-like than crows with proportionally longer tail and wings. Chihuahuan Raven more...

Length: 61 cm Wingspan: 135 cm

Eurasian Jackdaw

This small Eurasian crow has been found several times in northeastern North America. Adults are blackish overall, with pale gray on the nape that wraps around to the sides of the head. The iris is white. The bill is fairly short, and the wings are short and pointed. Juveniles have darker napes and da more...

Length: 33 cm Wingspan: 43 cm

Fish Crow

Entirely black; slightly glossy, mostly on back. Immatures with brownish cast to back. Very similar to American Crow, but slightly smaller head, longer tail, pointier wings, and smaller overall size. more...

Length: 38 cm Wingspan: 91 cm

Florida Scrub-Jay

Slender. Bill broader and shorter than other scrub-jays. Deep blue head. Auriculars black but blended with head. Narrow white line above the eye blends with its distinctive whitish forehead. Pale grayish below with faint brownish streaks; blue necklace separates whitish, lightly streaked throat. Blue more...

Length: 30 cm Wingspan: 34 cm

Gray Jay

Juveniles are sooty with pale gray malar. Adults: gray back and tail, pale gray underparts. Short, black bill, black legs, long tail. Dark hood, pale forehead, frosty-whitish auriculars, throat, and nape. Three populations. Rocky Mountain are whiter headed, showing minimal black on the crown; Taiga a more...

Length: 29 cm Wingspan: 45 cm

Green Jay

Two populations; North American birds, described here, differ greatly from the South American population. Distinctive, deep greenish back and tail, sometimes with bluish wash when worn. Lighter green below with yellow tinge. Yellow-green under tail. Outer tail edges yellow. Complex head pattern; blac more...

Length: 27 cm Wingspan: 34 cm

Island Scrub-Jay

Head, wings and long tail are blue. Face features a blackish mask and cheeks, and a narrow, broken white eyeline. Back is dark gray-brown. Underparts grayish to nearly white. Blue necklace separating grayish, lightly streaked throat. Under tail coverts washed blue. Larger and has a much longer, heavi more...

Length: 33 cm Wingspan: 43 cm

Mexican Jay

A large, blue jay similar to scrub-jays, but stouter. Has blue head with slightly darker blue cheek, but generally lacks the facial contrasts seen in scrub-jays. Eye black; dark eye-line indistinct. Long black bill, often with variable white patch at base. Throat is slightly paler than grayish breast more...

Length: 29 cm Wingspan: 50 cm

Northwestern Crow

Virtually identical to American Crow, from which it is best separated by voice. Predominantly coastal, this is a small, all-black crow with stout, black bill and slightly rounded tail. Slightly smaller than typical American, but note that coastal populations of American Crows along the Oregon and Was more...

Length: 41 cm Wingspan: 86 cm

Pinyon Jay

Short tail; very long, decurved, pointy bill. All pale blue except for dark legs and bill, and white chin. Blue richest on head, back and tail, sometimes worn on belly. Very faint, whitish streaks on breast and throat. Crow-like flight style. more...

Length: 27 cm Wingspan: 46 cm

Non-vegetated Areas

2 species

Clark's Nutcracker

Nucifraga columbiana

Alpine Slopes, Western Confierous Forest, Dry Western Woodlands

Common Raven

Corvus corax

Rocky Cliffs and Gorges, Rimrocks and Mesas, Beaches, Urban Landscapes, Suburban/residential Landscapes, Open Country and Grasslands, Deserts and Sagebrush Plains, Chapparal, Boreal Forest, Eastern Deciduous Forest, Western Confierous Forest, Dry Western Woodlands

Salt Water

4 species

Common Raven

Corvus corax

Eurasian Jackdaw

Corvus monedula

Coastal Cliffs, Urban Landscapes, Suburban/residential Landscapes, Open Country and Grasslands

Fish Crow

Corvus ossifragus

Estuaries and Bays, Tidal Mudflats and Shallows, Urban Landscapes, Suburban/residential Landscapes, Lakes Resevoirs, Ponds and Rivers, Open Country and Grasslands

Northwestern Crow

Corvus caurinus

Estuaries and Bays, Beaches, Tidal Mudflats and Shallows, Urban Landscapes, Suburban/residential Landscapes, Open Country and Grasslands

Human-altered Areas

12 species

American Crow

Corvus brachyrhynchos

Urban Landscapes, Suburban/residential Landscapes, Open Country and Grasslands, Oak Savannah and Woodlands, Eastern Deciduous Forest, Streamside Gallery Forest and Riparia

Black-billed Magpie

Pica hudsonia

Suburban/residential Landscapes, Open Country and Grasslands, Deserts and Sagebrush Plains, Streamside Gallery Forest and Riparia

Blue Jay

Cyanocitta cristata

Urban Landscapes, Suburban/residential Landscapes, Eastern Deciduous Forest, Northern Wooded Swamps, Southeastern Pine-oak Forest, Streamside Gallery Forest and Riparia

Chihuahuan Raven

Corvus cryptoleucus

Suburban/residential Landscapes, Open Country and Grasslands, Deserts and Sagebrush Plains, Dry Western Woodlands, Streamside Gallery Forest and Riparia

Common Raven

Corvus corax

Eurasian Jackdaw

Corvus monedula

Coastal Cliffs, Urban Landscapes, Suburban/residential Landscapes, Open Country and Grasslands

Fish Crow

Corvus ossifragus

Estuaries and Bays, Tidal Mudflats and Shallows, Urban Landscapes, Suburban/residential Landscapes, Lakes Resevoirs, Ponds and Rivers, Open Country and Grasslands

Green Jay

Cyanocorax yncas

Suburban/residential Landscapes, Streamside Gallery Forest and Riparia, Thickets

Northwestern Crow

Corvus caurinus

Estuaries and Bays, Beaches, Tidal Mudflats and Shallows, Urban Landscapes, Suburban/residential Landscapes, Open Country and Grasslands

Steller's Jay

Cyanocitta stelleri

Suburban/residential Landscapes, Western Confierous Forest, Dry Western Woodlands

Tamaulipas Crow

Corvus imparatus

Suburban/residential Landscapes, Deserts and Sagebrush Plains

Western Scrub-Jay

Aphelocoma californica

Urban Landscapes, Suburban/residential Landscapes, Chapparal, Oak Savannah and Woodlands, Western Confierous Forest, Dry Western Woodlands, Streamside Gallery Forest and Riparia

Fresh Water

1 species

Fish Crow

Corvus ossifragus

Estuaries and Bays, Tidal Mudflats and Shallows, Urban Landscapes, Suburban/residential Landscapes, Lakes Resevoirs, Ponds and Rivers, Open Country and Grasslands

Grassland and Scrubland

12 species

American Crow

Corvus brachyrhynchos

Urban Landscapes, Suburban/residential Landscapes, Open Country and Grasslands, Oak Savannah and Woodlands, Eastern Deciduous Forest, Streamside Gallery Forest and Riparia

Black-billed Magpie

Pica hudsonia

Suburban/residential Landscapes, Open Country and Grasslands, Deserts and Sagebrush Plains, Streamside Gallery Forest and Riparia

Chihuahuan Raven

Corvus cryptoleucus

Suburban/residential Landscapes, Open Country and Grasslands, Deserts and Sagebrush Plains, Dry Western Woodlands, Streamside Gallery Forest and Riparia

Common Raven

Corvus corax

Eurasian Jackdaw

Corvus monedula

Coastal Cliffs, Urban Landscapes, Suburban/residential Landscapes, Open Country and Grasslands

Fish Crow

Corvus ossifragus

Estuaries and Bays, Tidal Mudflats and Shallows, Urban Landscapes, Suburban/residential Landscapes, Lakes Resevoirs, Ponds and Rivers, Open Country and Grasslands

Island Scrub-Jay

Aphelocoma insularis

Chapparal, Oak Savannah and Woodlands

Northwestern Crow

Corvus caurinus

Estuaries and Bays, Beaches, Tidal Mudflats and Shallows, Urban Landscapes, Suburban/residential Landscapes, Open Country and Grasslands

Pinyon Jay

Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus

Deserts and Sagebrush Plains, Chapparal, Dry Western Woodlands

Tamaulipas Crow

Corvus imparatus

Suburban/residential Landscapes, Deserts and Sagebrush Plains

Western Scrub-Jay

Aphelocoma californica

Urban Landscapes, Suburban/residential Landscapes, Chapparal, Oak Savannah and Woodlands, Western Confierous Forest, Dry Western Woodlands, Streamside Gallery Forest and Riparia

Yellow-billed Magpie

Pica nuttalli

Open Country and Grasslands, Oak Savannah and Woodlands

Forest and Woodlands

16 species