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Torresian Crow

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Subject: Torresian Crow
From: "Greg Clancy" <>
Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2005 17:23:59 +1000
Hi Bob,
 
Well your Baza record certainly created some interest and I am glad that you will be fully documenting it.  However, what caught my attention was the reference to Torresian Crow at Tibooburra.  The two corvid species present in the area are the Australian Raven and Little Crow.  In the 1970's when attempting to catch and band Black Kites at the Tibooburra tip we caught and banded some crows.  We had the first Slater's field guide (in two parts) and carefully checked the distribution maps, descriptions (especially the inter-ramal area) etc. and concluded that they were Torresian Crows.  Someone in Birding NSW alerted us to the possible mix-up and we were referred to Ian Rowley, who had carried out research for CSIRO on the corvids.  He was away but Graeme Chapman responded and sent me a copy of the relevant paper.  He also examined some slides that we had taken.  It turns out that we were too far south for the crows to be Torresian Crows and accepted that we had, in fact, banded Little Crows.  I would suggest that your birds were Little Crows unless you have some strong evidence to the contrary.  Corvids are difficult to identify but are greatly under-rated birds as they are both beautiful and intelligent.
I hope these comments have been helpful.
 
 
Regards
 
Greg 
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