Corvids
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Local corvids include crows and jays.
Crows
American Crow
(Corvus brachyrhynchos)
Entirely black. Large, long-legged, thick-necked bird with heavy, straight bill. In flight, wings are fairly broad and rounded with wingtip feathers spread like fingers. Short tail, squared off at the end. Very social, sometimes forming noisy flocks in the thousands. Aggressive, often chase away hawks and owls. Common in fields, woods, and cities. Thrives around people.
Jays
Blue Jay
(Cyanocitta cristata)
Blue above, light gray below. Black and white markings on wings and tail. Larger than a robin, smaller than a crow. Crest and long tail. Noisy and conspicuous in areas with large trees. Very social birds that can become friendly with humans. They will gather together to mob birds of prey, and their alarm calls are regularly used to locate hawks and falcons. Regularly visits feeders. They are easily found nearly everywhere throughout Western New York. There is a large number of year round resident Blue Jays which live and breed here, plus a large number that do migrate through during the spring and fall each year.