44th Annual Meeting of the Federation of New York State Bird Clubs, Syracuse, NY, September 1991.

THE COMPLEX LIFE OF THE AMERICAN CROW.

Kevin J. McGowan, Section of Ecology & Systematics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

Although the American Crow is a common bird, many aspects of its unusual life history are unfamiliar to most people. My work with individually-marked crows has shown that although some crows migrate into New York from Canada, crows breeding in central New York appear to be sedentary, remaining near their nesting sites throughout the year. One of the earliest nesters in New York, crows breed in large numbers in both urban and rural areas. Young remain in the nest over a month after hatching, and are dependent upon adults for several months after fledging. It is likely that most crows do not breed until they are 3 to 5 years old. Instead, young crows remain with their parents for several years and help their parents raise young.