Hooded/carrion crow hybrid? Cottbus, Germany (1 Viewer)

[Henry_Flower]

Can anyone confirm that this is a hooded/carrion crow hybrid? Seen today in Cottbus, where we normally have hooded crows.

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello Henry,
do you have more pictures, where the underparts are better visible?
First, white (not pale grey!) feathers are some abnormal colouration or/and underlying plumes (on the belly).

Regarding the hybrid question: I see what well might be paler grey frings on the undertail coverts and an indication of a greyish band across the lower breast. I dont know, if its real. Also, because position seems slightly too high imo, but this difficult to judge, at least for me.

 

[Henry_Flower]

Unfortunately the bird didn't move around much when we were observing! I have a few other angles, in case they're helpful:

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Thank you for the new pictures, Henry!
Still difficult to see/judge on my actual screen. If the grey parts on the outer breast and shoulder (?) are real, than this would be a clear indication of Hooded Crow influence.
But I better wait until looking at the pictures on another screen or more comments.

 

[tconzemi]

Looks Carrion crow with some feather issues to me, no sign of real grey feathers

 

[Henry_Flower]

Thanks both of you -- a carrion crow is quite an exotic rarity this far east!

 

[tconzemi]

Thanks both of you -- a carrion crow is quite an exotic rarity this far east!

Did you consider young Raven?

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Did you consider young Raven?

Me too! Thank you Tom. I was so blinded by the interesting, ongoing question (see other threads of this topic, and the fact that I am living in the integration zone), that I missed the obvious thing.
Bill shape, with a broad base and a well curved culmen makes this indeed a 1 cy Raven.
Thank you Tom!

 

[Henry_Flower]

I'll put that down as mystery solved.

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Looking at this pictures again, this bird and ther pictures are very hard for me. Is it a sure Raven, or is it a Carrion Crow? When seeing it first, I just jumped on the hybrid and the interesting plumage question, and when I read the question from Tom, I saw a Raven in it, but looking at the pictures again, I am not so sure anymore.
Conclusion? Mystery solved? I hope this doesnt come out as an offense, but I hope for more comments regarding the ID of this bird and leaving the hybrid/plumage question aside. Would be helpfull to me!

 

[tconzemi]

Alexander, this bird has some serious feather issues (depigmantation, scruffiness) maybe due to a virus or other disease. Which means that it surely is smaller and smaller billed than usual. Knowing that very young Raven are not so easy to identify, these pictures may just not be good enough to get a final ID. I still think Raven is most plausible

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Alexander, this bird has some serious feather issues (depigmantation, scruffiness) maybe due to a virus or other disease. Which means that it surely is smaller and smaller billed than usual. Knowing that very young Raven are not so easy to identify, these pictures may just not be good enough to get a final ID. I still think Raven is most plausible

Thank you Tom for your fast answer of my question.

I think you have written the perfect answer of this bird!

 

[Hauksen]

Thank you Tom for your fast answer of my question.

I think you have written the perfect answer of this bird!

Hi,

Fully agreeing with Tom, I'd like to add that the plumage doesn't look like hybrid plumage to me, at all. I've seen quite a few hybrids in Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg, and the grey areas are quite well defined, only smaller than with pure hooded crows.

There's a good description with comparative drawings available on ornitho.de, if you navigate their menus successfully.

Regards,

Henning

 

[Mike Earp]

There's a good description with comparative drawings available on ornitho.de, if you navigate their menus successfully.

Presumably this (with drawings alone here); see also this.