English and Scientific names:	Indian House Crow (Corvus splendens)
Number of individuals:	1, probably a young bird.
Locality: LOUISIANA:	Cameron
Specific Locality:	Hackberry Ridge, near Johnson’s Bayou.
Date(s) when observed:	5/18/2008
Time(s) of day when observed:	12:51 a.m.
Reporting observer and address:	Paul Conover Lafayette, LA
Other observers accompanying reporter who also identified the bird(s):
Other observers who independently identified the bird(s):	Gary Broussard found the bird on 5/10/2008 at the same location, and identified it.
Light conditions (position of bird in relation to shade and to direction and amount of light):	Very sunny, full sun.
Optical equipment:	Zeiss 10s.
Distance to bird(s):	As close as 20 feet.
Duration of observation:	15 minutes
Habitat:	Chenier with hackberry and acacia as dominant trees.
Behavior of bird:	Called in the distance for awhile. I heard the calling grow louder, and the bird suddenly flew up and perched near me, and started calling directly at me.
Description:	Crow-sized corvid. Body mostly medium gray, appearing darker in bright light, with black patch on face covering forecrown, wrapping behind eye, constricting just below the eye, then broadening out again to cover malar, chin and throat. Thus, the gray of the head formed a ‘hood.’ Bill large and black. Wings blacks, upper mantle gray like nape, mid- to lower mantle blackish. Tail blackish. This individual had extremely worn primaries, with at least one primary broken. The tail was worn as well, but the 2 outermost rectrices on the left were new. The new rectrices were darker, broader, and rounder-tipper than the others, suggesting that it was replacing its first tail feathers with adult ones.
Voice:	Called incessantly. Call was a single, long, hoarse, whining caw. The bird seemed to be cawing at me, as if begging.
Similar species:	Hooded Crows. Color matches Indian House Crow better than Hooded Crows.
Photographs or tape recordings obtained?	Yes.
Previous experience with this species:	None. When Gary Broussard found it and sent me pictures, we both independently looked it up and found the species as a match.
Identification aids:	Websites.
This description is written from:	Memory and photography.
Are you positive of your identification? If not, explain:	Yes.
Reporter:	Paul Conover
Date and time:	June 2008