Information about Chough

Red-billed Chough
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Corvidae Genus: Pyrrhocorax Species: P. pyrrhocorax
Binomial name
Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Red-billed Chough, or just Chough (pronounced IPA: /ˈtʃʌf/ (like chuff)), Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax is a member of the crow family, Corvidae. Together with the Alpine Chough, Pyrrhocorax graculus, they are the only true choughs; the White-winged Chough, Corcorax melanorhamphos, of the family Corcoracidae is entirely unrelated and merely has similar shape and habits.

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. It breeds mainly in high mountains and on coastal sea cliffs, but sometimes in inland quarries, for example in Spain. It is resident throughout its range. It is found in the upper reaches of the Himalayas where it comes down to altitudes of 2000 m in winter. A prehistoric subspecies that lived in Europe during the last ice age was described as Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax primigenius.

In Great Britain, it is represented by the endemic subspecies pyrrhocorax, which is restricted to the far west of Wales and Scotland, although it has recently recolonised Cornwall (where it was called the Cornish Chough and appears on the Cornish Coat of Arms) after an absence of many years. It was formerly more widespread but has suffered from the loss of its specialist "machair" habitat and competition with the jackdaw, Corvus monedula.

On the Canary Island La Palma, there is another endemic subspecies Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax barbarus, also referred to as la graja (pronounced ['graxa:]) in the local Spanish dialect.

The Red-billed Chough is 37-41 cm in length and has a 68-80 cm wingspan. Its glossy black plumage, long curved red bill and red legs distinguish it from all other birds. It is often quite tame.

The Chough has a buoyant and easy flight. It soars above the cliffs with wide-spread primaries; the tips of these bend upwards as it curves and turns, sweeping round gracefully. With wings almost closed it shoots towards the surf at the foot of the crags, then checking itself, sweeps into its breeding cave.

Its movement on the ground has been described as "a short and very quick run," but it will walk as sedately as a rook. Its loud, ringing call chee-ow is clearer and louder than that of the Jackdaw and always very different from its yellow-billed congener (Laiolo et al. 2004). It has no call resembling Chuff (as described in some references), and its name probably comes from the old Cornish pronunciation of chough - "chow" as in bough.

Its food consists of insects, terrestrial molluscs and other invertebrates.

A crack or fissure in the roof or sides of a tidal cave is a site for the Chough's nest, and hollows in steep crag and cliff faces are also utilised. The nest is, as a rule, bulky, and composed of roots and stems of heather, furze or other plants, and is lined with wool or hair.

The eggs are three to six in number and laid in April or May. They are spotted, not always densely, with various shades of brown and grey on a creamy or slightly tinted ground.

The plumage of both sexes is glossy blue-black, with a green sheen on the wings; the bill and legs are coral red. In the young orange takes the place of red until the first autumn.

References

• BirdLife International (2004). Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• Laiolo, Paola; Rolando, Antonio; Delestrade, Anne & De Sanctis, Augusto (2004): Vocalizations and morphology: interpreting the divergence among populations of Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax and Alpine Chough P. graculus. Bird Study 51(3): 248–255. HTML abstract

See also

• Culture of Cornwall - Cornish symbols

External links

• The Cornish Chough
• RSPB Choughs
• Operation Chough
• John Harris: 'The Cornish Chough'
• Choughs from the BBC
• Red-billed Chough image