Hooded Crow - Staten Island, New York

A species previously reported from the ABA Area, but never accepted to the ABA Checklist, a Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix) was discovered and photographed at Crooke’s Point, Great Kills Park, Staten Island, New York, on 20 June and may have been previously present for a few days.

This species is gray on the body and mantle with a contrasting black head, breast, wings and tail.  It hybridizes fairly regularly with Carrion Crow (Corvus cornix) (Crows and Jays, A Guide to Crows, Jays, and Magpies of the World, Madge and Burn). This distinctive and common species is found in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and western Asia. The northern populations are migratory, dispersing south to southern Iran.  At key migration points, thousands of birds can be present.

Hooded Crow is omnivoroius, but mostly a carnivorous scavenger and earthworms are a staple in their diets. 

A discussion regarding natural origin vs. ship-assisted has begun. Hooded Crow has been recorded outside of its breeding range, all reports thought to be overshoots on spring migration (March-May).  Vagrants have been recorded from Greenland, Jan Mayen, Bear Island, Iceland, Svalbard, Novaya Zemlya, Malta, Tunisia, and Libya (Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 14).

Comments

[Angus Wilson]

The opening statement of this post is not really correct. Hooded Crow has been reported several times before: Illinois, California, Texas and Alberta. I have not chased up all the details yet but these sightings were reviewed and deemed of uncertain origin by the relevant committee or were not submitted at all. Thus it would be more accurate to say that there 'are no accepted records for the ABA area....'. I do not know if the ABA Checklist Committee has reviewed the species based on any of these previous sightings.

BTW the Hooded Crow is still present at Great Kills Park today, 24 June 2011. This is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area (they also manage the Jamaica Bay refuge) on the outskirts of New York City.

[John P]

Update: present on June 25, too.

[Tom Clayton]

Just spotted the hooded crow in Cumberland Co. TN.