Corvus imparatus

Tamaulipas Crow, a species about which we know little, was considered conspecific with Sinaloa Crow (Corvus sinaloae) of western Mexico under the name of Mexican Crow at the time of the TBBA field work (Lockwood and Freeman 2004) The species was first discovered in the United States in 1968 in extreme south Texas. Historically this crow has been present primarily in winter with numbers varying. The voice is the most distinctive field mark for this small, shiny, black crow often seen in flocks (see Oberholser 1974and Howell and Webb 1995 for descriptions of voice).

DISTRIBUTION and SEASONAL OCCURRENCE. During the 1987-1992 field work of the TBBA project, observers found confirmed breeding evidence for Tamaulipas Crow at 2 locations near the mouth of the Rio Grande River.

The largest numbers of Tamaulipas Crows have been found in Texas in the winter months (Oberholser 1974, Lockwood and Freeman 2004).

BREEDING HABITAT. Tamaulipas Crow is found in semiarid brushland, and in association with humans in villages, ranches, farms and around garbage dumps (Oberholser 1974).

The female lays 4-5 gray to blue-gray eggs marked with brown (Howell and Webb 1995).

STATUS. By the early years of the 21st century Tamaulipas Crow had decreased to being a very rare to casual visitor in southern Cameron County. The last reported nesting was in 2001. At its peak in the late 20th century, this crow was a common winter visitor at the Brownsville Sanitary Landfill and a rare summer resident (Lockwood and Freeman 2004).

Text by Robert C. Tweit (2005)

Literature cited.

Howell, S. N. G. and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, New York.

Lockwood, M. W. and B. Freeman. 2004. The TOS handbook of Texas birds. Texas A&M University Press, College Station.

Oberholser, H. C. 1974. The bird life of Texas. University of Texas Press, Austin.