From Opus

Photo by Jamie MacArthur.
Lizard, Cornwall

Alternative names: Common Chough; Cornish Chough

Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax

[edit] Identification

38 - 41cm. A medium-sized corvid.

• Red bill which is relatively long, slim and gently decurved
• Red legs, rather short for a corvid
• Relatively small head
• Plumage glossy blue-back, glossed greenish on wings and tail
• Broad, fingered wings prominent in flight

Sexes similar. Juveniles have duller plumage and dull orange bill.

Photo by RJL2005.
Wales, June 2007

[edit] Similar species

Can be confused with Yellow-billed Chough if bill is not seen. The broad wings with the distinctive fingers are typical for Red-billed Chough.

[edit] Distribution

It breeds in Great Britain, the Isle of Man, Ireland, southern Europe and the Mediterranean basin, the Alps, and in mountainous country across central Asia, India and China. There is an isolated population in the Ethiopian highlands.
Locally common. Has declined in part of its range, especially in Europe.

[edit] Taxonomy

Eight subspecies accepted:

• P. p. pyrrhocorax in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England
• P. p. erythroramphos from Portugal to Spain, France, Switzerland and Italy
• P. p. barbarus in northwest Africa (Algeria and Morocco) and the Canary Islands
• P. p. docilis from the Balkans and Greece to Turkey, the Caucasus, the Middle East, Iraq, Iran and Turkmenistan to Afghanistan
• P. p. centralis from the northwest Himalayas northeast to Mongolia, parts of China and to Russia
• P. p. himalayanus in the Himalayas east to Bhutan and northeast India. Also in southern China
• P. p. brachypus in north and east China
• P. p. baileyi in Ethiopia

Hybrids with Yellow-billed Chough have been reported.

[edit] Habitat

Coastal cliffs and high mountain pastures. Up to 6000m in the Himalayas and reported at 7950m near Mount Everest.

[edit] Behaviour

Diet includes insects and terrestrial molluscs.
It builds its nests in cracks of caves or cliffs. The nests are built of roots and stems of plants such as heather or furze, and are lined with hair or wool. 3-6 eggs are laid in April-May in western Europe.
A resident species with some altitudinal movements.

[edit] Vocalisation

It has a loud, ringing call chee-ow.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2009. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553507

• List of references

[edit] External Links