I hunt with a lot of different gauges but my main go to for birds is the 16g Parker or Lefever, all depends on what strikes my fancy on any given day.
Stan, we went crow hunting last Friday and took 27 of them. Sent quite a few away missing some feathers. Used the Browning BSS with Fiocchi Super Crushers 1 oz 7 1/2 at 1350 FPS. A bit snotty for the "vintage guns".