French: Crave à bec rouge German: Alpenkrähe Spanish: Chova piquirroja
Subspecies and Distribution
P. p. pyrrhocorax
(Linnaeus, 1758) – N, W & S Ireland, W Scotland, I of Man, Wales and SW England (Cornwall).
P. p. erythroramphos
(Vieillot, 1817) – Portugal, Spain, NW & S France, SW Switzerland, C Italy, and Sardinia and Sicily.
P. p. barbarus
Vaurie, 1954 – mountains of NW Africa (Morocco and Algeria); also Canary Is (La Palma).
P. p. docilis
(S. G. Gmelin, 1774) – S Balkans, Greece (including Crete), and Turkey E to Caucasus, Levant (Lebanon, N Israel, C Syria), N Iraq, N Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and W Pakistan.
P. p. centralis
Stresemann, 1928 – NW Himalayas NE through Altai to Mongolia and Buryatia (S Russia) and, in S, E to SW China (SW Xizang), Kashmir and Ladakh.
P. p. himalayanus
(Gould, 1862) – Himalayas E to Bhutan and NE India (Arunachal Pradesh) and to C & S China (C Gansu S to Sichuan and N Yunnan).
P. p. brachypus
(Swinhoe, 1871) – NE & E China (Inner Mongolia and W Heilongjiang S to Ningxia, Shaanxi and Hebei).
P. p. baileyi
Rand & Vaurie, 1955 – Simien (and nearby Mt Abune Yosef and Dilenta Highlands) and Bale Mts, in Ethiopia.
38–41 cm; 207–375 g. A medium-sized, relatively small-headed and short-legged corvid with comparatively long, slim and gently decurved bill with tip of upper... read more
Typical call a wheezy, hoarse "chaw" or a fading "ch'waa", delivered with... read more
Occupies two habitat zones: coastal cliffs in W Europe, and high mountain pastures with rocky crags... read more
Food and feeding
Primarily insectivorous, almost entirely so in spring and summer. Larvae of craneflies (Tipulidae) important, along with small beetles (... read more
Laying mainly middle to late Apr in Britain and Ireland, early May in S France, and late Apr to May in W China and Caucasus; single-brooded... read more
Basically sedentary. Ringing studies in Britain suggest that young disperse over short distances,... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Locally common. In much of its wide range there is evidence of a decline in numbers, most evidently in Europe, where populations have... read more
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