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One of the crows, either American Crow or Fish Crow. Based on size and location (coastal marsh), this could be Fish Crow.
This one was observed perched on a railing along a tidal creek in a salt marsh on Hunting Island, SC.
This is Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus) or American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos). But, this may be as close as I get to an ID. Your thoughts?
Spotted on Apr 18, 2009
Submitted on Feb 10, 2013
3 Comments
Fish vs common is easiest to determine by voice. If it had the typical harsh "caaaaaaw!!!" then it's a common crow . Fish crows have a gentler higher pitched caw, often doubled .
Unless you have the bird in-hand and make specific measurements, a definite ID is not reliable without voice. I find that Fish Crow are more populous on the coast, though. In Augusta, I find them to be most common (often times more common than American), or at least most active, during Spring and Summer.
This is a hard one. I'm not often in the area in which fish crows are found so am not familiar with the slight differences between the two. Some sources suggest that the voice is the best way to distinguish between the fish and common crow. I'm hoping someone else will help you out with the ID. Good luck.