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Cody Allen Photography, 3417 16TH Avenue NW, Rochester, MN (2026)

06/01/2026

Stunning Northern Blue Flag Iris from my in-laws landscaping.

05/31/2026

The American Crow

Facts about Crows

Intelligence & Behavior
Tool Use: Crows can craft and use tools (like twigs or bent wire) to extract food from tight spaces.

Exceptional Memory: They have remarkable facial recognition. Research has shown they can remember human faces for up to 17 years and even pass warnings about specific people to their offspring.

"Funerals": When a crow dies, the flock often gathers around the body to investigate, which is believed to be a behavior to learn about and avoid local dangers.

Physical Characteristics
Size: Crows typically measure 16–21 inches in length with a 34–39 inch wingspan and weigh about 11–22 ounces.

All-Black Build: Their bodies, beaks, and legs are completely black, and their feathers have a glossy, sometimes iridescent sheen.

Distinction from Ravens: Crows are smaller than ravens, have fan-shaped tails in flight, and produce a high-pitched caw, while ravens have wedge-shaped tails and a deep, hoarse croak.

Diet & Foraging
Omnivorous Diet: They are opportunistic eaters that consume almost anything, including insects, carrion, seeds, fruit, small animals, and garbage.

Resourceful Foraging: Crows drop hard-shelled nuts or shellfish onto roads or rocks to break them open. They have even been observed waiting at pedestrian crossings for passing cars to crack nuts in the traffic flow.

Social Structure & Lifespan
Family Units: They live in highly complex, year-round family groups. Offspring from previous years often stick around to help their parents raise new chicks.

Massive Winter Roosts: During the winter, they gather in enormous, communal roosts to sleep. Some of these flocks can number from hundreds to upwards of a million crows.

Lifespan: In the wild, they typically live for 7–8 years, though some can live into their teens. Captive crows, however, have been known to live for several decades.