AND WHAT ABOUT NORTHWESTERN CROWS?

	Personally, I don't believe in Northwestern Crow and have 
chosen not to put it on the list for Clatsop County.  There is no 
good evidence that NW Crow has ever occurred in Oregon and the 
evidence suggesting that it is a real species is very 
questionable.  Most of the specimens collected in Oregon, and 
called NW Crow appear to be juvenile American Crows of the 
hesperis  subspecies, a very small crow to begin with.  Here on 
the Columbia River we get a mixture of larger "valley" crows from 
the interior and smaller coastal crows.  When they are seen 
together on a mudflat it really tweaks the imagination.  I believe 
that sightings of Northwestern Crow in Clatsop County are wishful 
thinking.
	It must be said, however, that the lack of evidence cuts both 
ways, and I have no definitive evidence that Northwestern Crow  
does not occur here.  Counting NW Crow (as long as it remains on 
the North American List) is a matter of personal choice.  There 
are no field marks or behavioral characteristics that separate it 
from an American Crow, but if you want to count them, it's really 
none of my business.  Just don't tell me.