Fan-tailed Raven
Corvus rhipidurus
This medium-sized all-dark crow has a unique batlike silhouette. When perched the tail seems normally-proportioned, but in flight it tail appears extremely short. Bill is short and heavy. Lives on high desert cliffs. Extremely aerobatic and often in medium-sized groups. Gives a high-pitched croak.
Identification
The fan-tailed raven is completely black including bill, legs and feet and the plumage has a purplish-blue gloss in good light. Worn plumage is slightly coppery-brown. The base of the feathers on the upper neck are white and only seen if the bird is inspected or a strong gust blows them the wrong way. The throat hackles are shorter than in most other ravens. One of the smaller raven species, it is about the same size or slightly larger than the carrion crow, at 47–51 cm, but with a much thicker bill, shorter tail and much larger wings.<p>The voice is described as guttural croaks mixed with the sound of frog-call. Like all corvids, the fan-tailed raven is capable of vocal mimicry; however, this behavior is mostly recorded in captivity and, very rarely, in the wild.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Corvus rhipidurus
- Authority
- Hartert, EJO, 1918
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Corvidae
- Genus
- Corvus
Range and habitat
It occurs in the Middle East, North Africa, Arabia, and south to Sudan and Kenya. It also ranges across the Aïr Massif in the southern Sahara. It lives in desert or open dry country that includes crags for nesting. It is one of the most aerial of birds traveling huge distances in search of food, its large wings being adapted to gliding on thermals in a rather vulture-like way.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Food is invariably taken on the ground and includes all manner of insects and other invertebrates, grain taken from animal dung, carrion and scraps of human food. It has also been seen taking skin parasites from camels and, where not persecuted, scavenges around rubbish dumps and camp sites. Fruits of all types are eaten readily. It soars and plays in thermals even more so than other raven species and often associates with the brown-necked raven roosting in the same tree as it.<p>This species nests on rock ledges and in cavities in cliffs though very rarely in Somalia it has been known to nest in trees. There are usually 2–4 eggs laid. The great-spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) sometimes uses this species as a brood host.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Red-tailed Bristlebill
Bleda syndactylus
A large greenbul often found close to the ground in areas with large trees and open understory, and occasionally in forest edge and other more open habitats. Largely olive-green above and greenish-yellow below with a yellow throat, bright blue facial skin around the eye, a large, angular, laterally compressed bill, and a long red tail. Song is a haunting, resonant series of descending whistles, “WHUUUR-WHUUR-WHUUR-WHUR,” with each note often quavering.
White-wedged Piculet
Picumnus albosquamatus
Tiny woodpecker occurring in dense savanna and dry forests. The back is olive-brown, spotted white in some regions, and the breast is white with dense black scales or spots depending on region. The crown is black with white spots; males have a red forehead, black in females. The song is high-pitched trill.
Yellow-capped Pygmy-Parrot
Micropsitta keiensis
A tiny parrot of lowland and foothill forest canopy in the south and west of New Guinea. Mostly green with yellow under the tail and a yellowish crown. NW birds have a red streak on the belly. Crawls actively on trunks, even upside down, like a nuthatch. May overlap with Red-breasted and Buff-faced but Yellow-capped lacks the blue crown and buff face. Call, a shrill, descending screech “kiiiiiii!”.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.