Usually appearing solid black, this photo of an adult shows the rarely seen iridescent bluish gloss on the wing coverts extending to the upper back and throat. Notice also the scale-like appearance of back and scapulars caused by non-interlocking feather barbs. This small western subspecies hybridizes extensively with the similar Northwestern Crow. Corvids are famous for their exceptional intelligence and problem solving skills. Their brain's high neural density may make up for the lack of a frontal cortex usually associated with problem solving, self awareness, and mental flexibility in mammals, especially primates. Crows have increased markedly from being relatively scarce in many areas to becoming quite common and widespread now. They appear to be recovering well from the systematic persecution of Corvids in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
