Fish Crow

Corvus ossifragus

Missouri's rare, smaller crow species is associated primarily with swamps, wooded watercourses and backwaters. Robbins and Easterla (1992) describe it as a permanent Mississippi Lowlands resident and a rare Mississippi River summer resident north to Pike County.

Code Frequency

Few Fish Crows were observed during the Atlas Project. Because the expected range of the Fish Crow is primarily in the Mississippi Lowlands Natural Division, and because much of the Atlasing effort in that division was accomplished by block-busting during June, Fish Crows may have been under-represented. It is also possible, especially outside their expected range, that Atlasers misidentified a few Fish Crows as American Crows.

Distribution

Fish Crows were found in only three blocks in Dunklin, Perry and Pemiscot counties. The Dunklin County site was at Hornersville Swamp Conservation Area; the others were along the Mississippi River. No Fish Crows were confirmed to breed by the Atlas Project, and to our knowledge, they have never been confirmed as Missouri breeders, though they likely breed regularly in southeast Missouri. Breeding at sites such as the Gayosa Bend and Wolf Bayou conservation areas and at Big Oak Tree State Park is likely as well as within the woodlands near the Mississippi and St. Francis rivers in Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid and Pemiscot counties.

Breeding Evidence

Reported in 2 (<1%) of 1,207 blocks

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