American Crow

Scientific Name: Corvus brachyrhynchos

Population Estimate: 31M, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Year-round in fields, open woodlands, and forests -- as well as areas inhabited by people -- throughout the US. In summer they extend up into Canada. 

Field Notes: Large, all-black birds with harsh, cawing voices. Nearly identical to Northwestern Crow and Fish Crow. Common Ravens are larger with longer wings, heavier bills, and shaggy neck feathers. 

Personal Notes:

Killdeer

Scientific Name: Charadrius vociferus

Population Estimate: 1M, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Found year-round on open ground with low to no vegetation throughout most of the US and into Mexico. Extends to Central America in the winter and up north into Canada in the summer. 

Field Notes: A shorebird usually found away from the shore. Typical plover with large eye and short bill. Killdeer is the only plover in the US with two black breast bands. 

Personal Notes: Such striking birds, no matter where we find them…. 

Bald Eagle

Scientific Name: Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Population Estimate: 300K

Range / Habitat: Found in wooded areas near water, breeding in Alaska, Canada, and parts of the upper midwest. Winters throughout the rest of the US, down into Mexico.

Field Notes: Large bird with hooked bill often seen soaring. Adults unmistakable with white head and tail. Juveniles are as large but mottled brown and white. In years two and three they develop an eyestripe as in the top photos. Adult plumage attained in the fourth year. Golden Eagle similar size and coloration as a juvenile Bald Eagle but with wrist spots in the juvenile and pale trailing edge in the adult.

Personal Notes: A dramatic and imposing bird, we saw a Bald Eagle feasting on the same carcass as several Common Raven in northern Minnesota and the eagle was easily twice as large. We are fortunate to see many of these birds Minnesota as it has the largest population of Bald Eagles of any state after Alaska.

Red-tailed Hawk

Scientific Name: Buteo jamaicensis

Population Estimate: 2M, Least Concern status

Range: Year-round throughout the United States and most of Mexico. Summers extends into Canada and Alaska.

Field Notes: The most common hawk in the United States. There are so many morphs it makes my head spin (see the Field Marks section on the Cornell site). The most reliable field note seems to be the red tail as in the top two photos above. I'm sure there are other ways to differentiate hawks, both in flight and while perched, but I just don't know them yet. I'll get back to you when I do.

Personal Notes: We have tracked many of these birds thinking they were something "different" only to find they were, while still majestic, the Red-tailed Hawk. As an aside, if you see it perching along the freeway in the United States, it's a Red-tailed Hawk. Really. Don't keep going back and forth on the freeway....