Kevin shares how he first got started in birding; his research on the biology of American Crows; an overview of his new Bird Academy course on Crows about the remarkable lives of American Crows - from their complex social lives to their impressive problem-solving skills; his background banding and tracking Crows; his first memories of a winter Crow roost; memorable roost experiences; and the various strategies for counting Crows around a roost.
Kevin McGowan, Ph.D., is an extension associate at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Co-editor of the second New York State Breeding Bird Atlas, past President and former webmaster for the New York State Ornithological Association, and a FORMER member of the New York State Avian Records Committee (NYSARC). McGowan is an international authority on the crow family, and has done extensive research in social development, family structure, and West Nile virus transmission within avian populations, especially the American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos). His main research concerns reproductive and social behavior of American Crows, as well as Fish Crows (Corvus ossifragus) in the Ithaca area.
Dr. McGowan received a B.S. in Zoology from the Ohio State University in 1977, and an M.S. in Zoology from Ohio State in 1980 for a thesis on small mammals and their use of arthropods on reclaimed strip-mines. He then went to the University of South Florida where he received a Ph.D. in Biology in 1987 for work on the social development of young Florida Scrub-Jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens). McGowan was one of the creators of the All About Birds website and currently creates online courses about birds at Bird Academy.