Corvus ossifragus
Silhouette: Peileppe · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The fish crow (Corvus ossifragus) is a species of crow associated with wetland habitats in the eastern and southeastern United States. The fish crow was given its binomial name by the Scottish ornithologist Alexander Wilson in 1812, in the fifth volume of his American Ornithology. The binomial is from Latin; Corvus means "raven", while ossifragus means "bone-breaker". It is derived from os or ossis, meaning "bone", and frangere, meaning "to break". The English-language common name fish crow also derives from Wilson, who ascribed the name to the crow's aquatic diet, as described to him by local fishermen. He distinguished the fish crow from John Bartram's great seaside crow by the former's diminutive size when compared to the American crow.
The fish crow's taxonomic relation to other species of the Corvus genus is still poorly understood, but DNA sequencing indicates that it is most closely related to the Hispaniolan palm crow (C. palmarum) and the Jamaican crow (C. jamaicensis), with the three species forming a Nearctic clade. The Sinaloa crow (C. sinaloae) and Tamaulipas crow (C. imparatus) bear morphological similarities to and were once considered conspecific... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Point Pelee National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ähtäri Zoo | 🇫🇮 Finland |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Fish Crow sighting in Philadelphia on a given day, based on 4,831 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 35th most-seen of the 248 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March–April and June–July
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Fish Crow in Philadelphia on a given day, against about 10% in September to February, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Fish Crow sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 10
Of the 10 cities where we can rate Fish Crow sightings, Philadelphia ranks 5th at about 20%. The best odds are in Miami (United States, about 70%), Orlando (United States, about 60%) and Washington (United States, about 50%).
Same genus: Corvus
The closest relatives of the Fish Crow that you can see in Philadelphia (genus Corvus, Crows and Ravens) are American Crow (about 60%) and Common Raven (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Fish Crow is recorded against all the birds logged in Philadelphia (4,831 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
