Despite the occurrence of the vernal equinox tomorrow, it’s looking very un-spring-like outside these days – three nor’easters in three weeks and another one forecasted for Wednesday! While I am immensely looking forward to returning ospreys, blooming flowers, and green leaves on the trees, I also appreciate the insight snow can give us into animal presence and behavior.

Previous posts have highlighted mammal sign left in fresh snow, including eastern cottontail and mouse tracks, as well as other sign left by the North American porcupine. But mammals are not the only ones that leave their mark on a snowy landscape. We often think of flying as the preferred mode of locomotion for birds, but many bird species spend a great deal of time walking and foraging on the ground as well. The most recent snowfall gave me an opportunity to observe the tracks made by one of the most common (and vocal) birds in my backyard – the American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos).

Had I not actively observed a group of American crows walking in the area of these tracks immediately prior to going in for a closer look, I might have been less sure about what species of bird made them, but distinguishing characteristics of the prints would have led me there anyway. American crows have anisodactyl feet, meaning they have three toes pointed forward and one pointed backward. Although other passerine birds have anisodactyl feet as well, these prints are approximately 2.5 inches long. Other passerine birds common to my backyard, such as sparrows, cardinals, jays, and juncoes, would have much smaller footprints. Finally, the mark made by the front toe as it was dragged through the snow while the crow “walked” forward also distinguishes these tracks from other birds that hop from place to place. Size, habitat, and gait would point to American crows even if I hadn’t seen them there.

Crows, a close relative of ravens, are often admired for their intelligence. I have seen American crows work together to trap and kill a sparrow, eerily reminiscent of a pack of wolves hunting their prey. They can also devise solutions to difficult problems. For instance, I had been regularly placing suet in a feeder in my backyard this winter. The size and position of the suet feeder made it difficult for these relatively large birds to both perch on and feed from the feeder at the same time. Rather than forego this rich source of fat and nutrients, the American ravens managed to remove the entire suet feeder from the hanger and drop it to the ground where they could readily peck the suet cake into easily extractable chunks.