Reading: crow | bird
Crows feed chiefly on the ground, where they walk about purposefully. They are omnivores that enjoy kernel and may even attack and kill young, weak animals. This habit makes them unpopular with farmers, as does the shuttlecock ’ sulfur proclivity to raid texture crops. Berries, insects, the eggs of other birds, and carrion are besides corrode. Crows will make off with shreds of roadkill and storehouse tidbits in trees, caching the meat like a leopard does for later pulmonary tuberculosis. sometimes they bury seeds or store them in crevices in bark. They occasionally steal food from other animals, sometimes cooperating with other crows to raid food from otters, vultures, and water birds .
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Crows live in large, close-knit families, and, like sociable mammals, they not only search and foraging together but besides defend territories and manage for the young together. Most species, however, do not nest in colonies. Each mating pair has its own nest of sticks and twigs, normally high up in a tree. There are lay five or six greenish-to-olive eggs, with colored speckles. Young crows may spend up to six years with their parents before breeding on their own. As winter approaches, northern crows gather into bombastic night-roosting groups. These flocks can include tens of thousands of birds and occasionally hundreds of thousands. potential reasons for this seasonal gregariousness are heat, protection against predators such as owl, or information rally. A crow may live 13 years in the fantastic and more than 20 years in captivity.
Highly intelligent, crows can be consummate mimics. They have been trained to count aloud up to seven, and some crows have learned more than 100 words and up to 50 accomplished sentences ; others have been known to mimic their owners ’ voices in order to call dogs and twit horses. They besides exhibit great curiosity, fueling a reputation as imaginative pranksters and calculating thieves. They fly off with people ’ sulfur mail, wrench clothespins off lines, and make off with unattended objects such as car keys. Two species—the New Caledonian corvus ( C. moneduloides ) and the ‘ alalā, or hawaiian crow ( C. hawaiiensis ) —use stick-type forage tools to obtain food from small holes and crevices. such sophisticated tool function is only practiced by a handful of animal species. Some common crows are the american crow ( C. brachyrhynchos ) of North America and the carrion corvus ( C. corone ) of Europe and most of Asia. A subspecies of the carrion gloat with grey on the back of the neck and breast is called the hooded crow ( C. corone cornix ). sometimes considered a separate species, it is found between western Europe and eastern Asia and in the northern british Isles. early crows include the firm crow ( C. splendens ) of the amerind subcontinent ( introduced in eastern Africa ) ; the motley crow ( C. albus ), with white nape and breast, of tropical Africa ; and the fish corvus ( C. ossifragus ) of southeast and cardinal North America. other members of the genus Corvus not called crows are the raven, jackdaw, and victimize. For birds in early families that are sometimes called crows, see currawong, or piping-crow ; drongo, or king crow ; kokako, or wattled crow ; and rockfowl, or bald crow.
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I am broadly interested in how human activities influence the ability of wildlife to persist in the modified environments that we create.
Specifically, my research investigates how the configuration and composition of landscapes influence the movement and population dynamics of forest birds. Both natural and human-derived fragmenting of habitat can influence where birds settle, how they access the resources they need to survive and reproduce, and these factors in turn affect population demographics. Most recently, I have been studying the ability of individuals to move through and utilize forested areas which have been modified through timber harvest as they seek out resources for the breeding and postfledging phases. As well I am working in collaboration with Parks Canada scientists to examine in the influence of high density moose populations on forest bird communities in Gros Morne National Park. Many of my projects are conducted in collaboration or consultation with representatives of industry and government agencies, seeking to improve the management and sustainability of natural resource extraction.