The Bird Watcher: Why we're seeing more Fish Crows in New Jersey

I discovered there’s more than one kind of crow 25 years ago, on a visit to Florida. I heard crows calling nearby — a nasal “uh-uh, uh-uh” sound — and I commented to a relative that the local crows sure had a weird Southern accent.

He said that’s because they were a different kind of crow. They were fish crows, and they weren’t on my radar because I didn’t spend much time along the coast.

These days, I can’t seem to escape fish crows. I hear them everywhere I go, from Lodi and Leonia to Waldwick and Wayne.

What the heck is going on? For answers, I asked Rick Radis, biologist, environmental consultant, and crow maven.

Is it just me, or is New Jersey seeing more and more Fish Crows?

Yes, a huge increase. Both eBird and National Audubon Christmas Count numbers indicate a steady increase since at least the early 1980s. My Roger Tory Peterson field guide (from the 1950s) states something like: "Never seen far from tidewater, " and it was true that you had to go to the coast to see them.

In the late 1970s, fish crows started expanding up the Delaware and most of New Jersey's rivers that drain to the coast, and now the birds are pretty much statewide.      

I’m even seeing them in Maine all the way up to Acadia National Park.

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Why the increase?

Just an opinion, but there’s very little crow hunting in the East these days. There’s more food in the way of dead deer, etc. Just hypothetical: The waters of all our rivers got a lot cleaner at about the same time that fish crows started increasing. There are more fish in the rivers now.

Do they migrate or stay year-round?

They generally stay around in winter in North Jersey, in large roosts composed almost exclusively of fish crows.

If you can find one of these big roosts, the birds are quite entertaining to watch. When they settle in for the evening, they’re noisy and quarrelsome and seem to take umbrage at many things.  

The Cape May bird watches see southbound fish crows in the fall, in numbers apparently, and northbound birds in the spring.

How can you tell a fish crow from an American crow?

Fish crows are smaller, with a glossier blue-black plumage, but that difference is often no help in the field unless the two corvids are next to each other.  

Identification by call is often crucial. Fish crows have a distinctive "uh-uh" nasal call. They’ll often respond or come to look at you if you can imitate that call.

What's the coolest thing about fish crows?  

They always seem more in-your-face than American Crows. They’re more daring chasing hawks, ravens, jays and owls.  

They’re definitely not afraid of humans. In New York City, where they are common street birds, I’ve seen them take food from strollers, park bench sitters and food vendors.

Anything else you'd like to add?

I live on the Rockaway River in Morris County, and fish crows started showing up about 20 years ago, about when ravens did. I now sometimes have the pleasure of watching all three New Jersey corvids interacting and calling and chasing each other in my yard. What a treat.   

Throw black vultures into this mix, and it's something I’d have said was impossible 30 years ago.

“The Bird Watcher” appears every other Thursday. Write to Jim at celeryfarm@gmail.com.