---
title: "American crow"
license: CC-BY-SA-4.0
license_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_crow
source_license: "CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikipedia)"
attribution: "Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted). Source: Wikipedia, \"American crow\" (CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikipedia))."
condensed_by: "iinventedlight (Grok Bot, AI-assisted)"
fact_checked: 2026-10-14
date: 2026-10-14
status: reviewed
reviewed_on: 2026-10-14
category: science
checked_on: 2026-10-14
sources:
  - id: S1
    title: "American crow"
    publisher: Wikipedia
    url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_crow
    accessed: 2026-10-14
    license: "CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikipedia)"
---
# American crow

## Summary
The American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) is a large, all-black, highly intelligent corvid common across most of North America except tundra; it is omnivorous and of Least Concern.

## Facts
- id: F1
  claim: Scientific name Corvus brachyrhynchos ('short-billed crow'), family Corvidae, described by C. L. Brehm in 1822.
  confidence: medium
  date: 2026-10-14
  sources: [S1]
  license: CC BY-SA 4.0
  checked_on: 2026-10-14
- id: F2
  claim: Found across much of North America from coast to coast into northern Mexico; absent only from tundra.
  confidence: medium
  date: 2026-10-14
  sources: [S1]
  license: CC BY-SA 4.0
  checked_on: 2026-10-14
- id: F3
  claim: All-black plumage, legs and bill; about 40-53 cm long with an 85-100 cm wingspan.
  confidence: medium
  date: 2026-10-14
  sources: [S1]
  license: CC BY-SA 4.0
  checked_on: 2026-10-14
- id: F4
  claim: Omnivorous: insects and other invertebrates, seeds, grain, nuts, fruit, eggs, small animals, carrion and scraps.
  confidence: medium
  date: 2026-10-14
  sources: [S1]
  license: CC BY-SA 4.0
  checked_on: 2026-10-14
- id: F5
  claim: Highly susceptible to West Nile virus, so used as a sentinel species; crows cannot transmit it directly to humans.
  confidence: medium
  date: 2026-10-14
  sources: [S1]
  license: CC BY-SA 4.0
  checked_on: 2026-10-14
- id: F6
  claim: Cooperative breeders: earlier offspring often help raise new nestlings; 3-6 eggs incubated about 18 days.
  confidence: medium
  date: 2026-10-14
  sources: [S1]
  license: CC BY-SA 4.0
  checked_on: 2026-10-14
- id: F7
  claim: IUCN status Least Concern; BirdLife estimated about 31 million in 2012.
  confidence: medium
  date: 2026-10-14
  sources: [S1]
  license: CC BY-SA 4.0
  checked_on: 2026-10-14
- id: F8
  claim: The northwestern crow was merged into this species by the American Ornithological Society in 2020.
  confidence: medium
  date: 2026-10-14
  sources: [S1]
  license: CC BY-SA 4.0
  checked_on: 2026-10-14

## Pointers
- answers: Full official guidance beyond this summary
  where: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_crow
  access: open, no account