Editing Fish crow (section)

== Taxonomy and etymology ==
The fish crow was given its [[Binomial nomenclature|binomial name]] by the Scottish [[Ornithology|ornithologist]] [[Alexander Wilson (ornithologist)|Alexander Wilson]] in 1812, in the fifth volume of his ''American Ornithology''.<ref name="wilson">{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Alexander |title=American ornithology, or, The natural history of the birds of the United States |date=1812 |publisher=Bradford and Inskeep |volume=5 |location=Philadelphia, PA |pages=27–29 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/46338142 |access-date=December 12, 2021 |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.97204 |lccn=11004314 |oclc=4961598}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Burns |first1=Frank L. |title=Alexander Wilson. VI: His Nomenclature |journal=The Wilson Bulletin |date=1909 |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=132–151 |jstor=4154253 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4154253 |access-date=December 12, 2021 |issn=0043-5643}}</ref> The binomial is from [[Latin]]; ''Corvus'' means "raven", while ''ossifragus'' means "bone-breaker". It is derived from ''os'' or ''ossis'', meaning "bone", and ''frangere'', meaning "to break".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jobling |first1=James A. |title=The Helm dictionary of scientific bird names : from aalge to zusii |date=2010 |publisher=Christopher Helm |location=London |isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 |pages=119, 286 |url=https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling |access-date=December 12, 2021}}</ref> The English-language [[common name]] ''fish crow'' also derives from Wilson, who ascribed the name to the crow's aquatic diet, as described to him by local fishermen. He distinguished the fish crow from [[John Bartram]]'s ''great seaside crow'' by the former's diminutive size when compared to the [[American crow]].<ref name="wilson" />

The fish crow's taxonomic relation to other species of the ''[[Corvus]]'' genus is still poorly understood, but [[DNA sequencing]] indicates that it is most closely related to the [[palm crow]] (''C. palmarum'') and the [[Jamaican crow]] (''C. jamaicensis''), with the three species forming a [[Nearctic realm|Nearctic]] [[clade]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Haring |first1=Elisabeth |last2=Däubl |first2=Barbara |last3=Pinsker |first3=Wilhelm |last4=Kryukov |first4=Alexey |last5=Gamauf |first5=Anita |title=Genetic divergences and intraspecific variation in corvids of the genus Corvus (Aves: Passeriformes: Corvidae) – a first survey based on museum specimens |journal=Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research |date=August 2012 |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=230–246 |doi=10.1111/j.1439-0469.2012.00664.x |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1439-0469.2012.00664.x |access-date=December 12, 2021|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The [[Sinaloa crow]] (''C. sinaloae'') and [[Tamaulipas crow]] (''C. imparatus'') bear [[Morphology (biology)|morphological]] similarities to and were once considered conspecific [[subspecies]] of the fish crow,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hellmayr |first1=Charles E. |title=Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands |date=1934 |publisher=Field Museum of Natural History |volume=13 |location=Chicago, IL |pages=5–7 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2767726 |access-date=December 12, 2021 |oclc=13897940}}</ref> but have since been recognized as distinct species.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hardy |first1=John William |title=The Fish Crow (''Corvus ossifragus'') and its Mexican relatives: vocal cues to evolutionary relationships? |journal=Florida Field Naturalist |date=1990 |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=74–80 |url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/FFN_18-4p74-80Hardy[1].pdf |access-date=December 12, 2021}}</ref>