Pied Crow
Corvus albus
Handsome black-and-white crow. Found in almost all habitats except driest desert and thick rainforest. Feeds by walking along the ground. Strong flier that will fly high and occasionally soar. Common call is a typical crow “crawk”. Overall shape and size similar to some raptors, but none of them show Pied Crow’s contrast between black tail, white underparts, and black head.
Identification
It is about the size of the European carrion crow or a little larger (46–50 cm in length), but has a proportionately larger bill, slightly longer tail and wings, and longer legs. As its name suggests, its glossy black head and neck are interrupted by a large area of white feathering from the shoulders down to the lower breast. The tail, bill, and wings are black, too. The eyes are dark brown. The white plumage of immature birds is often mixed with black. It resembles the white-necked and thick-billed ravens, but has a much smaller bill.<p>In southern Africa, its range overlaps with the white-necked raven. The pied crow is slightly smaller and has a white chest and belly with a black, more delicate beak compared to the black chest and belly of the larger white-necked raven, which also has a white-tipped and weightier beak.It is larger than the black crow.<p>The voice is often described as a harsh ar-ar-ar-ar or karh-karh-karh.
Taxonomy
The pied crow was first described in 1776 by Statius Muller. Its specific name is the Latin adjective albus, meaning "white".<p>The Maasai people call it ol-korrok from the sound of its call. It is considered annoying, but not a bird of ill omen.
- Scientific name
- Corvus albus
- Authority
- Müller, PLS, 1776
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Corvidae
- Genus
- Corvus
Range and habitat
This species, Africa's most widespread member of the genus Corvus, occurs from sub-Saharan Africa, specifically Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, south to the Cape of Good Hope and on the large island of Madagascar, the Comoros Islands, Aldabra, Assumption Island, Cosmoledo, Astove Island, Zanzibar, Pemba, and Fernando Po. It inhabits mainly open country with villages and towns nearby. It does not occur in the equatorial rainforest region. It is rarely seen very far from human habitation, though it is not as tied to the urban way of life as the house crow (Corvus splendens) of Asia, and may be encountered far from human habitation in Eritrea.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Temminck's Seedeater
Sporophila falcirostris
Very small finchlike bird with a robust bill with obviously curved mandibles. Males are mostly gray with a paler belly and a yellow bill. Females are olive-brown above and pale below with a black bill. Found at the forest edge and in second growth where it is largely dependent on bamboo patches.
Thamnornis
Thamnornis chloropetoides
Odd, warbler-like, long-tailed and long-billed tetraka. Madagascar endemic that is the only tetraka regularly found in spiny forest. Mostly skulks in the understory, but will sing from an open perch at the top of a tree. Song is a sputtering trill that is sometimes followed by a series of lower “chup” notes. Larger, longer-tailed, and longer-billed than jeries. More greenish than Subdesert Brush Warbler, with white tips to the tail, and without fuzzy breast streaks.
Bronze Ground Dove
Pampusana beccarii
A rotund, short-legged ground-dwelling dove that usually runs rather than flies when startled. Both sexes have a brown body with bluish-gray chest and head. Males have an iridescent pink shoulder patch. Most obvious identification feature in the field is the glowing white eye-ring of the male, especially in more eastern populations such as those in the Solomon Islands. On mainland New Guinea, the species is a resident of upper-elevation montane forest. No other similar species occur in its altitudinal range. Gives a typical dove-like “woo-oop” call which is quiet and easily missed.
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