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Platte River Status: A fairly common permanent resident especially in the east. Wintering populations numbering several million individuals occur in the Rainwater Basin each year.

Breeding Range: A fairly common nesting species on the Eastern Plain and Platte River Valley physiographic regions; fairly common but local on the Dissected Plain and Western Plain; rare and local in the Sandhills.

Breeding Population: The population in 1979-1980 was estimated at 8,540 breeding pairs. American crow made up about 0.3% of the total breeding bird numbers in the study area those years.

Habitat: We found the highest mean nesting density in shelterbelts (3.0 pairs/km²), followed by upland prairie (0.2 pairs/km²), and alfalfa (0.2 pairs/km²). The presence of American crow in alfalfa during the nesting season was an artifact of the sampling technique used in this study, rather than an example of habitat selection. Faanes and Andrew (1982) reported the highest nesting densities of American crows in northeastern North Dakota from mixed quaking aspen-bur oak forest. Rising (1974) found American crow common in river valleys in western Kansas where nests were placed in cottonwood and salt cedar trees. Graber and Graber (1963) reported 37.5 birds/km² from hedgerows and 13.5/km² from forests in Illinois.

Effect of Habitat Alteration: American crow has benefited from de-watering of the Platte River system and the subsequent establishment of wooded vegetation within the river channel. The occurrence of large numbers of nesting birds in shelterbelts also points to the positive benefits of habitat alteration that this species has realized.

Nesting Data: We found a recently fledged American crow at Mormon Island Crane Meadows Preserve, Hall County, on 13 June 1980. Tout (1947) reported nests with eggs or young in Lincoln County during 1 April to 14 May. Mean clutch size among six Lincoln County nests was 5.3 eggs. Kansas egg dates extend from 10 March to 31 May (Johnsgard 1979).