Of these nineteen species, only four are native to San Diego county:

• Steller's Jay
• Scrub Jay
• American Crow
• Common Raven

Steller's Jay
The Steller's jay is common in higher elevations and is a frequent visitor to campsites and picnic areas where it will unmercifully beg for or steal food from picnickers. This jay is blue overall with a dark crest, throat , and upper breast. Despite its affinity for picnics, this jay's diet mainly consists of wasps, beetles, grasshoppers, along with fruits of the oak, elderberry and cherry.

Scrub Jay
Although often mistakenly referred to as a "blue jay", the scrub or gray-back jay is the common jay on the West coast. This jay has a blue head, wings, and tail. He does not have a crested head , as do the Steller's and Eastern blue jays. The scrub jay's throat is whitish bordered by a streaked blue-gray breast band. The meat diet of the scrub jay includes songbirds, eggs, grasshoppers, wasps, and bees, along with beetles, flies, caterpillars, spiders, lizards, frogs and snails. The plant diet includes acorns, pine seeds, farm grains and various fruits.

American Crow
The American crow is larger than the jay and is totally black. The crow is a common sight in our area, feeding on just about anything from insects to eggs, reptiles, grains, nuts and fruits. Many attempts at exterminating the crow, due to their perceived injurious effects on farming crops, have only strengthened the crows' numbers and expanded it's territory. Although crows can cause some problems with grain crops, their elimination of the far more destructive grasshoppers, insects and mice far outweighs the damage they do. Intelligent farming in our area includes co-existing with, rather than destroying these highly intelligent birds.

Common Raven
The common raven is not as common as the name suggests. Although common to our area, this bird is singularly characterized by its intelligence being far superior to any other avian species.

The raven, while larger than the crow, nevertheless bears a great resemblance to its smaller cousin. The raven's beak is thick and long, much larger than the crow's. In flight, the distinguishing characteristic between a raven and a crow is the defined wedge-shape of the raven's tail as opposed to the more fan or straighter shape of the crow's tail.

Praise of the Corvid family (also called the crow family) comes from both the scientific and literary worlds.

The Crow Family in Literature
In folklore from Siberia to North America, Crow and his big brother Raven are stars in an ancient cycle of myths. In many such myths, Raven, the wise guy and practical joker, created the world and imparted his greedy, irreverent spirit to all he touched. As a final joke, he added genitals to the creatures he created. Legends call this "Raven's greatest game".

Corvids are rampant in Norse mythology and during the Classical Period of the world. The Roman College of Augurs revealed secrets told to them by corvids. In more recent literature, perhaps the most famous work is Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven, with its famous line, "Quoth the Raven, `Nevermore'."

The Crow Family in Science
In the scientific world, corvid intelligence is highly noted. Ornithologist John Terres suggests that corvids have “the highest degree of intelligence”. Naturalist Tony Angell claims that the crow (family) has superior intelligence to all other avian species tested. Zoologist Bernd Heinrich notes that the raven is “assumed to be the brains of the bird world”, while animal behaviorist Konrad Lorenz credits the raven with “the highest mental development”. A 1991 paper by Irene Pepperberg of the University of Arizona affirms that corvids may share “the cognitive capacities” of many primates. In several tests, the corvids' performance was put on a par with gorillas and chimps, our own species' closest relative.

Due to the hundreds of corvids we have cared for and observed at our facility, we have had the pleasure of confirming their superior intelligence and observing them at play.

We have seen corvids "cache" food morsels in literally thousands of spots on our property, and have observed these same morsels being retrieved days later by either the same crow or raven or a "robber" corvid who saw the food being cached and decided to steal it. We have observed them as they drop walnuts from the sky onto asphalt surfaces to crack the shell. We have watched them fall in love, court, mate, and raise young, year after year. They are monogamous and young male and female corvids must pass many tests before being accepted by a member of the opposite sex for a lifetime commitment.

Feeding baby crow

We have observed crows landing on phone wires and dangle upside down on them as if to see the world from a different perspective. We've watched as they merrily chase one another in the sky, performing a myriad of aerobatic maneuvers all the while. They fearlessly chase dogs and cats just for fun and won't hesitate to unmercifully tease a bird of prey in hopes of catching the hawk or vulture off guard just long enough to steal its food.

Next time you spot a crow, raven or jay, give them a second glance. Admire them for their grace, beauty, intelligence and wit. Watch them play and obviously enjoy their lives. Take a hint from the corvid family: Be a little mischievous once in a while and enjoy every minute of it!

Related Books
For those interested in knowing more about the Corvid family, the following books are recommended:

• Ravens in Winter by Heinrich, Bernd 1989. New York: Summit
• Savage, Candace.1995. Bird Brains . San Francisco: Sierra Club Press.