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Food of the Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos Brehm, in South-central Kansas cover

Food of the Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos Brehm, in South-central Kansas

Chapter 15: Transmitted November 9, 1955.
By Dwight R. Platt
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About This Book

A study in south-central Kansas analyzes 617 regurgitated pellets collected from 1952–1954 to document seasonal and local variation in crow diet. Pellets were sampled from roosts of resident and wintering flocks, each examined separately, and percentages of indigestible residues were estimated alongside field observations. Results show a highly varied, seasonally shifting diet dominated by agricultural grains (wheat, oats, sorghum, corn), fruits and seeds (cherries, sunflower, grapes), and a wide range of insects (scarabaeid beetles, grasshoppers, ants, hemipterans), with feeding linked to sowing, harvest, and haying cycles. The paper also discusses methodological strengths and limits of pellet analysis for dietary inference.

April 6-19June 15-28June 29-July 12July 13-26July 27-Aug. 9Aug. 10-23Sept. 7-20Sept. 21-Oct. 4Oct. 5-18Oct. 19-Nov. 1Nov. 2-15Nov. 16-29Nov. 30-Dec. 13
No. of pellets 9 7 6 19 18 5 57 29 27 24 25 7 8
wheat 6 3 1 18 16 4 27 12 10 15 13 4 6
sorghum 1 20 12 10 12 12 4 2
sunflower seed 2 
oats 8 1 
brome grass 2 10 4 
corn 3 3 1 2
cherry 3 1 
grass seed 11 
spurge 1 1 1 
grape 1 
misc. plant 2 1 2 1 1 3 1 2
beetle (scarabaeid) 4 1 
beetle (other) 4 1 4 19 5 5 39 15 17 16 14 4 1
grasshopper 1 1 12 6 5 39 22 24 12 18 3 6
ant 4 
bug (hemipteran) 1 
misc. insect 3 1 
crayfish 1 1 3 1 1 3 2 2 2 
snail 1 7 4 1 4 1 
fish 2 1 28 14 7 7 2 
bird 1 
eggshell 1 1 2 10 5 8 1 1 1 
mammal 2 2 4 2 8 3 5 5 8 1 5

Table 3. Average, Maximum, and Minimum Percentages of Food Residues in Pellets Collected at Wintering Crow Roosts in the Western Part of the Study Area—1952-53-54.

 Dec. 28-Jan. 11Aug. 24-Sept. 6Sept. 7-20Oct. 5-18Nov. 16-29Dec. 14-27Dec. 28-Jan. 10Feb. 8-21
Number of pellets 62 5 38 65 56 22 96 32
No. of Collections 1 1 1 13 1 1 1
wheat6.9 62.8 14.6 22.7 2.2  3.3 2.8
(100-10)(99-35)(90-10)(90-10)(95-10)(90-30)(50-10)
sorghum29 1 22.4 31.2 41.2 42.5 32.4 21.6
(100-5) (5)(95-5)(100-10)(100-5)(100-5)(100-10)(100-10)
sunflower seed 26.3 3.3 5.0 26.9 22.0 32.4 21.6
(90-5) (95-5) (60-10) (95-3) (90-5)(100-5)(80-10)
corn 11.4 19.0 12.4 4.5 14.011.4 14.1 1.2
(100-10)(40-15) (95-5) (85-30)(100-5)(100-10)(100-5)(20-10)
oats14.1 4.9 5.7 5.5 4.6 37.2
(100-10) (80-15) (70-5) (75-5) (95-5)(100-10)
brome grass 1.4 .1 
(85) (10) 
Other Grass 9.4 3.2 4.0 15.7 8.8 6.3
(95-5) (80-20)(90-10) (95-10)(100-10)(50-20)
grape trace .1 
(2) (10) 
pokeberry .4 .5 
(15) (30-2) 
spurge .4 .2 
(25) (10-1) 
ragweed .1 .5 .2
(5) (10-5) (5)
misc. plant 1 .8 .8 .2
(50-1) (30) (80-2) (3-2)
TOTAL PLANT 99.5 82.8 53.9 72.4 94.1 97.197.4 97.4
grasshopper .1 6.0 8.9 10.5 1.4 .5 .3
(5) (30) (30-5) (70-5)(15-5) (15-5) (5)
beetle .1 9 17.8 12.1 1.7 .9 .4.9
(5)(15-10) (95-2) (80-3)(15-2) (10-5) (10-5) (10-5)
ant14.9 3.4 
(95-73) (85-5) 
crayfish.7 .8 .5 
(10-5) (50) (50) 
snail.1 .1 .1 
(5) (5) (5) 
fish.1 .1 
(5) (5) 
snake  1.8.9
(60-5) (20)
eggshell.3.4.61.1
(10-5) (10) (10-5) (20-5)
mammal 2 2.2 1.9 .8 2.4 .7 .4 .3
(10-5) (5-1)(20-5) (10-5)(60-5) (10-5) (10-5) (10)
TOTAL ANIMAL .5 17.2 46.1 27.6 5.9 2.9 2.6 2.6

Table 4. Frequencies of Occurrence of Food Residues in Pellets Collected at Wintering Crow Roosts in the Western Part of the Study Area—1952-53-54.

Dec. 28-Jan. 11 Aug. 24-Sept. 6 Sept. 7-20 Oct. 5-18 Nov. 16-29 Dec. 14-27 Dec. 28-Jan. 10 Feb. 8-21
Number of pellets 62 5 38 65 56 22 96 32
wheat 11 5 10 27 3 5 4
sorghum 45 1 22 36 44 16 74 18
sunflower seed 43 5 12 32 9 68 19
corn 14 4 11 5 12 8 27 3
brome grass 1 1
other grass 15 5 5 7 15 5
grape 1 1
pokeberry 1 2
spurge 1 5
ragweed 1 8 1
misc. plant 4 1 2 2
grasshopper 1 1 23 38 10 5 2
beetle 1 4 38 48 15 3 6 4
ant 7 6
crayfish 3 1 1
snail 1 1 1
fish 1 1
snake 2 1
eggshell 2 1 9 3
mammal 2 3 5 7 10 2 5 1

Literature Cited

Aldous, S. E.

1944. Winter habits of crows in Oklahoma. Jour. Wildlife Management, 8:290-295, 1 fig.

Alexander, F. M.

1930. Notes on the birds of south-central Kansas. Wilson Bull., 42:241-244.

Barrows, W. B., and Schwarz, E. A.

1895. The common crow of the United States. U. S. Dept. of Agric. Div. Ornith. and Mammal., 6:1-98, 2 figs.

Black, C. T.

1941. Ecological and economic relations of the crow with special reference to Illinois. Unpublished thesis, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois.

Hayes, W. P.

1918. Studies on the life history of two Kansas Scarabaeidae. Jour. Econ. Entom., 11:136-144.

1920. The life histories of some Kansas Lachnosterna. Jour. Econ. Entom., 12:109-117.

Hering, P. E.

1934. The food of the American crow in central New York State. Auk, 51:470-476.

Imler, R. H.

1939. Comparison of the food of the white-necked ravens and crows in Oklahoma. Wilson Bull., 51:121-122.

Kalmbach, E. R.

1918. The crow and its relation to man. U. S. Dept. of Agric. Farm. Bull., 621:1-92, 3 figs., 2 plates, 4 tables.

1920. The crow in its relation to agriculture. U. S. Dept. of Agric. Farm. Bull., 1102:1-20, 3 figs.

1939. The crow in its relation to agriculture. U. S. Dept. of Agric. Farm. Bull., 1102; rev. ed.: 1-21, 6 figs., 2 tables.

Lemaire, R. J.

1950. The fall, winter and spring food habits of crows in the Baton Rouge region of Louisiana. Unpublished thesis, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Moore, R. C.

1930. Surface features of Kansas. Kansas Geological Survey map, scale 1:1,056,000.

Smith, R. C., Kelly, E. G., Dean, G. A., Bryson, H. R., and Parker, R. L.

1943. Insects in Kansas. Report of the Kansas State Bd. of Agric., 440 pp., 6 pls., 464 figs.

Transmitted November 9, 1955.