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Fish Crow sounds

Corvus ossifragus

The Fish Crow is a wetland-associated crow of the eastern and southeastern United States.

Learn bird sounds freeMore Fish Crow recordings
Fish Crow
Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Listen to the Fish Crow

Each recording below is a short excerpt with its spectrogram, a picture of the sound. Time runs left to right and higher pitches sit higher up. Play each one, then look for the same shape in the next. Different recordings of the same bird help you learn the bird, not one clip.

Call · recording 1 Spectrogram of a Fish Crow call: time runs left to right and pitch rises upward

Recorded by Ryan Douglas, Damascus, Montgomery County, Maryland, 2024-02-11. XC872667 on xeno-canto, CC BY-SA 4.0. Five-second excerpt.

Call, Flight Call · recording 2 Spectrogram of a Fish Crow call, flight call: time runs left to right and pitch rises upward

Recorded by steve, Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina, 2024-03-25. XC884704 on xeno-canto, CC BY-SA 4.0. Five-second excerpt.

What to listen for

Its voice is the clearest outward difference from similar American crows, with a nasal quality. Calls are described as a nasal "ark-ark-ark," a begging "waw-waw," a nasal "nyuh unh," and a single "cahrrr."

Many listeners write its call as “ark-ark-ark”. Treat a written sound as a memory aid; individual birds and regions vary.

What it looks like

The Fish Crow is a medium-large black bird, about 36-40 cm long with a wingspan near 90 cm. It resembles the American Crow but is smaller, with silkier plumage, a usually slimmer bill, dark brown eyes, and blue to green sheen above with greener black below.

Where to find it

It frequents coastal marshes and beaches, rivers, inland lakes and marshes, river banks, and nearby land along the eastern seaboard, Gulf Coast, and inland river systems. It feeds mainly from the ground or shallow water, sometimes hovering and plucking food with its feet.

BirdBrain regions that include this bird

  • Caribbean
  • Florida
  • Great Lakes
  • Mexico
  • Mid-Atlantic
  • New England
  • Plains
  • Texas

Did you know?

  • Fish Crows may hover over shallow water and pluck food with their feet.
  • They often build nests near others of their species, forming small, loose colonies.
  • A pair of Fish Crows was reported raising a young blue jay for multiple weeks.

Learn the Fish Crow by ear

BirdBrain Academy teaches bird sounds with side-by-side listening and quizzes that use different recordings, so you learn the bird rather than one clip. Start with six free lessons, no signup needed. On your phone, Sound ID can name the birds singing around you.

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Related birds

Species notes are adapted from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and checked for BirdBrain. Recordings come from xeno-canto under the licenses shown with each one. Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Identification guidance is educational; birds vary, so confirm unusual sightings with local experts or eBird.