![]() ![]() Since the mid-19th century, ornithologists have recognized American and Northwestern Crows as separate species based on a variety of features, including voice, size, behavior, and geography. Sometimes it is simply the outcome of evolutionary processes that march forward without any action from us, and with no care or consideration of our opinions or life lists. There are instances, though, when losing a species does not come at the price of biodiversity or our own cultural identities. In our current era of the Anthropocene, the continual loss of species is something that weighs heavy on my heart, as it should-so many of these losses occur at human hands. On June 30, the American Ornithological Society, which maintains a formal checklist of all North American birds, announced that it was officially absorbing the Northwestern Crow ( Corvus caurinus) into the American Crow ( Corvus brachyrhynchos). With this vote the organization’s Checklist Committee rendered the Northwestern Crow no more. This happened not by death, but by choice. ![]() ![]() This summer an entire species of crow vanished instantly. ![]()
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