Corvidae is a

cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

oscine A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5,00 ...

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s that contains the

crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...

raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...

s, rooks,

magpie Magpies are birds of various species of the family Corvidae. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent c ...

jackdaw Jackdaws are two species of bird in the genus ''Coloeus'' closely related to, but generally smaller than, crows and ravens ('' Corvus''). They have a blackish crown, wings, and tail, with the rest of their plumage paler.Madge & Burn (1994) 136� ...

jay Jays are a paraphyletic grouping of passerine birds within the family Corvidae. Although the term "jay" carries no taxonomic weight, most or all of the birds referred to as jays share a few similarities: they are small to medium-sized, usually ...

treepie The treepies (known also as crypsirinines from the subfamily's name, Crypsirininae) comprise four closely related genera (''Dendrocitta'', ''Crypsirina'', ''Temnurus'' and ''Platysmurus'') of long-tailed passerine birds in the family Corvidae. Th ...

chough A chough ( ) is any of two species of passerine birds that constitute the genus ''Pyrrhocorax'' of the Corvidae (crow) family. These are the red-billed chough (''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax'') and the Alpine chough (or yellow-billed chough) (''Pyr ...

s, and

nutcrackers A nutcracker is a tool designed to open nut (food), nuts by cracking their shells. There are many designs, including levers, screws, and ratchets. The lever version is also used for cracking lobster as food, lobster and crab as food, crab shells. ...

. In

colloquial Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation amo ...

English, they are known as the crow family or corvids. Currently, 139 species are included in this family. The genus ''

Corvus ''Corvus'' is a widely distributed genus of passerine birds ranging from medium-sized to large-sized in the family Corvidae. It includes species commonly known as crows, ravens, and rooks. The species commonly encountered in Europe are the car ...

'' containing 50 species makes up over a third of the entire family. Corvids (

s) are the largest passerines. Corvids display remarkable

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...

for animals of their size, and are among the most intelligent birds thus far studied. Specifically, members of the family have demonstrated

self-awareness In philosophy of self, philosophy, self-awareness is the awareness and reflection of one's own personality or individuality, including traits, feelings, and behaviors. It is not to be confused with consciousness in the sense of qualia. While ...

mirror test The mirror test—sometimes called the mark test, mirror self-recognition (MSR) test, red spot technique, or rouge test—is a behavioral technique developed in 1970 by American psychologist Gordon Gallup Jr. to determine whether an animal posse ...

s (

Eurasian magpie The Eurasian magpie or common magpie (''Pica pica'') is a resident breeding bird throughout the northern part of the Eurasian continent. It is one of several birds in the crow family (corvids) designated magpies, and belongs to the Holarctic r ...

s) and tool-making ability (e.g. crows and rooks), skills which until recently were thought to be possessed only by humans and a few other

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s. Their total brain-to-body mass ratio is equal to that of non-human

great apes The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); '' Gorilla'' (the ...

and

cetacea Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively c ...

ns, and only slightly lower than that of humans.Birding in India and South Asia
Corvidae
Retrieved 2007-Nov-10 They are medium to large in size, with strong feet and bills, rictal bristles, and a single

moult In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is a process by which an animal casts off parts of its body to serve some beneficial purpose, either at ...

each year (most passerines moult twice). Corvids are found worldwide, except for the southern tip of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

and the polar

ice cap In glaciology, an ice cap is a mass of ice that covers less than of land area (usually covering a highland area). Larger ice masses covering more than are termed ice sheets. Description By definition, ice caps are not constrained by topogra ...

s. The majority of the species are found in tropical South and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

and in southern Asia, with fewer than 10 species each in Africa and

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

. The genus ''Corvus'' has re-entered Australia in relatively recent geological prehistory, with five species and one subspecies there. Several species of raven have reached oceanic islands, and some of these species are now highly threatened with

extinction Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

, or have already become extinct.

Systematics, taxonomy, and evolution

The name Corvidae for the

was introduced by the English zoologist

William Elford Leach William Elford Leach (2 February 1791 – 25 August 1836) was an English zoologist and marine biologist. Life and work Elford Leach was born at Hoe Gate, Plymouth, the son of an attorney. At the age of twelve he began a medical apprenticesh ...

in a guide to the contents of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

published in 1820. Over the years, much disagreement has arisen on the exact evolutionary relationships of the corvid family and their relatives. What eventually seemed clear was that corvids are derived from

n ancestors, and spread throughout the world from there. Other lineages derived from these ancestors evolved into ecologically diverse, but often Australasian, groups. In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, Sibley and Ahlquist united the corvids with other taxa in the

Corvida The "Corvida" were one of two "parvorders" contained within the suborder Passeri, as proposed in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, the other being Passerida. Standard taxonomic practice would place them at the rank of infraorder. More recent res ...

, based on

DNA–DNA hybridization In genomics, DNA–DNA hybridization is a molecular biology technique that measures the degree of genetic similarity between DNA sequences. It is used to determine the genetic distance between two organisms and has been used extensively in phylo ...

. The presumed corvid relatives included:

currawong Currawongs are three species of medium-sized passerine birds belonging to the genus ''Strepera'' in the family Artamidae native to Australia. These are the grey currawong (''Strepera versicolor''), pied currawong (''S. graculina''), and black ...

birds of paradise The birds-of-paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae of the order Passeriformes. The majority of species are found in eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and eastern Australia. The family has 45 species in 17 genera. The members of this ...

whipbird Psophodidae is a family of passerine birds native to Australia and nearby areas. It has a complicated taxonomic history and different authors vary in which birds they include in the family. In the strictest sense, it includes only the five or six ...

s, quail-thrushes,

whistlers Whistler may refer to: * Someone who whistles Places Canada * Whistler, British Columbia, a resort town ** Whistler railway station ** Whistler Secondary School * Whistler Blackcomb, a ski resort in British Columbia * Whistler Mountain, Bri ...

monarch flycatcher The monarchs or monarch flycatchers (family Monarchidae) comprise a family of over 100 passerine birds which includes shrikebills, paradise flycatchers, and Grallina, magpie-larks. Monarchids are small insectivore, insectivorous songbirds with l ...

s and

drongo A drongo is a member of the family Dicruridae of passerine birds of the Old World tropics. The 28 species in the family are placed in a single genus, ''Dicrurus''. Drongos are mostly black or dark grey, short-legged birds, with an upright stan ...

shrike Shrikes () are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 34 species in two genera. The family name, and that of the larger genus, '' Lanius'', is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also known ...

vireo The vireos make up a family, Vireonidae, of small to medium-sized passerine birds found in the New World (Canada to Argentina, including Bermuda and the West Indies) and Southeast Asia. The family contains 62 species and is divided into eight ...

s, and

vanga The family Vangidae (from ''vanga'', Malagasy for the hook-billed vanga, ''Vanga curvirostris'') comprises a group of often shrike-like medium-sized birds distributed from Asia to Africa, including the vangas of Madagascar to which the family o ...

s, but current research favors the theory that this grouping is partly artificial. The corvids constitute the core group of the

Corvoidea Corvoidea is a superfamily of birds in the order of Passeriformes. Systematics Corvoidea contains the following families: * Vireonidae – vireos * Rhipiduridae – fantails * Dicruridae – drongos * Monarchidae – monarch flycatchers * ...

, together with their closest relatives (the birds of paradise, Australian mud-nesters, and shrikes). They are also the core group of the Corvida, which includes the related groups, such as

Old World oriole The Old World orioles (Oriolidae) are an Old World family of passerine birds. The family contains 41 species which are divided in 4 genera. The family includes two extinct species from New Zealand that are placed in the genus '' Turnagra''. Tax ...

s and vireos. Clarification of the interrelationships of the corvids has been achieved based on

cladistic Cladistics ( ; from Ancient Greek 'branch') is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is ...

analysis of several

DNA sequence A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases within the nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. This succession is denoted by a series of a set of five different letters that indicate the order of the nu ...

s. The jays and magpies do not constitute

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

lineages, but rather seem to split up into an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

and

Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...

lineage, and an

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical reg ...

and Oriental lineage, respectively. These are not closely related among each other. The position of the

azure-winged magpie The azure-winged magpie (''Cyanopica cyanus'') is a bird in the crow family. It is 31–35 cm long and similar in overall shape to the Eurasian magpie (''Pica pica'') but is more slender with proportionately smaller legs and bill. It belong ...

, which has always been of undistinguished lineage, is less clear than previously thought. The

crested jayshrike The crested jayshrike or crested shrikejay (''Platylophus galericulatus''), formerly known as the crested jay (despite not being a true jay), is a species of bird found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. It is the only member ...

(''Platylophus galericulatus'') is traditionally included in the Corvidae, but is not a true member of this family, being closer to the helmetshrikes ( Malaconotidae) or

s (

Laniidae Shrikes () are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 34 species in two genera. The family name, and that of the larger genus, ''Lanius'', is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also known ...

). Likewise, the Hume's ground "jay" (''Pseudopodoces humilis'') is, in fact, a member of the tit family,

Paridae The tits, chickadees, and titmice constitute the Paridae, a family of small passerine birds which occur mainly in the Northern Hemisphere and Africa. Many were formerly classified in the genus ''Parus''. Eurasian and African members of this f ...

. The following tree showing the

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or Taxon, taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, M ...

of the crow family is based on a molecular study by Jenna McCullough and collaborators published in 2023.

Fossil record

The earliest corvid

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

s date to mid-

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

Europe, about 17 million years ago; '' Miocorvus'' and '' Miopica'' may be ancestral to crows and some of the magpie lineage, respectively, or similar to the living forms, due to

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last comm ...

. The known prehistoric corvid genera appear to be mainly of the New World and Old World jay and Holarctic magpie lineages: * '' Miocorvus'' (

Middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), epoch made up of two Stage (stratigraphy), stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0. ...

Sansan, Gers Sansan () is a commune in the Gers department in southwestern France. The vicinity of Sansan is known for its Miocene fossil deposits where geologist Edouard Lartet unearthed the jaw of the primate '' Pliopithecus antiquus'' in 1837. Geograp ...

in southwestern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) * '' Miopica'' (Middle Miocene of SW Ukraine) * '' Miocitta'' (Pawnee Creek Late Miocene of Logan County, US) * Corvidae gen. et sp. indet. (Edson

Early Pliocene Early may refer to: Places in the United States * Early, Iowa, a city * Early, Texas, a city * Early Branch, a stream in Missouri * Early County, Georgia * Fort Early, Georgia, an early 19th century fort Music * Early B, stage name of Jamaican d ...

Sherman County, Kansas Sherman County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat is Goodland. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 5,927. Sherman County was created by the Legislature of 1873, and named after general William Sh ...

, US) * '' Protocitta'' (Early Pleistocene of Reddick, US) * Corvidae gen. et sp. indet. (Early/Middle Pleistocene of Sicily) – probably belongs in an extant genus * '' Henocitta'' (Arredondo Clay Middle Pleistocene of Williston, US) In addition, there are numerous fossil species of extant genera since the Mio–

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58 Corvids are large to very large

s with a robust build and strong legs; all species, except the

pinyon jay The pinyon jay (''Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus'') is a species of jay, and is the only member of the genus ''Gymnorhinus''. Native to Western North America, the species ranges from central Oregon to northern Baja California, and eastward as far a ...

, have

nostril A nostril (or naris , : nares ) is either of the two orifices of the nose. They enable the entry and exit of air and other gasses through the nasal cavities. In birds and mammals, they contain branched bones or cartilages called turbinates ...

s covered by bristle-like feathers. Many corvids of temperate zones have mainly black or blue coloured

plumage Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...

; however, some are pied black and white, some have a blue-purple iridescence, and many tropical species are brightly coloured. The sexes are very similar in color and size. Corvids have strong, stout bills and large wingspans. The family includes the largest members of the

order. The smallest corvid is the dwarf jay (''Cyanolyca nanus''), at and . The largest corvids are the

common raven The common raven or northern raven (''Corvus corax'') is a large all-black passerine bird. It is the most widely distributed of all Corvidae, corvids, found across the Northern Hemisphere. There are 11 accepted subspecies with little variatio ...

(''Corvus corax'') and the

thick-billed raven The thick-billed raven (''Corvus crassirostris''), a corvid from the Horn of Africa, shares with the common raven the distinction of being the largest bird in the corvid family. The thick-billed raven averages in length, with a range of and we ...

(''Corvus crassirostris''), both of which regularly exceed and . Species can be identified based on size, shape, and geography; however, some, especially the Australian crows, are best identified by their raucous calls.

Ecology

Corvids occur in most climatic zones. Most are sedentary, and do not

migrate Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

significantly. However, during a shortage of food, irruptive migration can occur. When species are migratory, they will form large flocks in the fall (around August in the Northern Hemisphere) and travel south. One reason for the success of crows, compared to ravens, is their ability to overlap breeding territory. During breeding season, crows were shown to overlap breeding territory six times as much as ravens. This invasion of breeding ranges allowed a related increase in local population density. Since crows and magpies have benefited and even increased in numbers due to human development, it was suggested that this might cause increased rates of nest predation of smaller bird species, leading to declines. Several studies have shown this concern to be unfounded. One study examined

American crow The American crow (''Corvus brachyrhynchos'') is a large passerine bird species of the family (biology), family Corvidae. It is a common bird found throughout much of North America. American crows are the New World counterpart to the carrion cro ...

s, which had increased in numbers, were a suspect in nest predation of threatened

marbled murrelet The marbled murrelet (''Brachyramphus marmoratus'') is a small seabird from the North Pacific. It is a member of the family Alcidae, which includes auklets, guillemots, murres and puffins. It nests in old-growth forests or on the ground at hig ...

s. However,

Steller's jay Steller's jay (''Cyanocitta stelleri'') is a bird native to western North America and the mountains of Central America, closely related to the blue jay (''C. cristata'') found in eastern North America. It is the only crest (feathers), crested jay ...

s, which are successful independently of human development, are more efficient in plundering small birds' nests than

s and

s. Therefore, the human relationship with crows and ravens did not significantly increase nest predation when compared to other factors, such as

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

. Similarly, a study examining the decline of British songbirds found no link between

numbers and population changes of 23 songbird species.

Behaviour

Some corvids have strong organization and community groups. Jackdaws, for example, have a strong social hierarchy, and are facultatively colonial during breeding. Providing mutual aid has also been recorded within many of the corvid species. Young corvids have been known to

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

and take part in elaborate social

game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...

s. Documented group games follow "king of the mountain" or "follow the leader" patterns. Other play involves the manipulation, passing, and balancing of sticks. Corvids also take part in other activities, such as sliding down smooth surfaces. These games are understood to play a large role in the adaptive and survival ability of the birds. Mate selection is quite complex, and accompanied with much social play in the Corvidae. Youngsters of social corvid species undergo a series of tests, including aerobatic feats, before being accepted as a mate by the opposite sex. Some corvids can be aggressive.

Blue jay The blue jay (''Cyanocitta cristata'') is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to eastern North America. It lives in most of the eastern and central United States; some eastern populations may be migratory. Resident populations ar ...

s, for example, are well known to attack anything that threatens their nest. Crows have been known to attack dogs, cats, ravens, and birds of prey. Most of the time, these assaults take place as a distraction long enough to allow an opportunity for stealing food.

Food and feeding

The natural diet of many corvid species is omnivorous, consisting of

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

s, nestlings, small mammals, berries, fruits, seeds, and

carrion Carrion (), also known as a carcass, is the decaying flesh of dead animals. Overview Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures ...

. However, some corvids, especially the crows, have adapted well to human conditions, and have come to rely on human food sources. In a US study of

s, and

s around campgrounds and human settlements, the crows appeared to have the most diverse diet of all, taking

anthropogenic Anthropogenic ("human" + "generating") is an adjective that may refer to: * Anthropogeny, the study of the origins of humanity Anthropogenic may also refer to things that have been generated by humans, as follows: * Human impact on the enviro ...

foods, such as: bread, spaghetti, fried potatoes, dog food, sandwiches, and livestock feed. The increase in available human food sources is contributing to population rises in some corvid species. Some corvids are predators of other birds. During the wintering months, corvids typically form foraging flocks. However, some crows also eat many agricultural pests, including

cutworm Cutworms are moth larvae that hide under litter or soil during the day, coming out in the dark to feed on plants. A larva typically attacks the first part of the plant it encounters, namely the stem, often of a seedling, and consequently cuts it ...

s, wireworms,

grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

s, and harmful weeds.Shades of Night
The Aviary
. Version of 2004-JUL-21. Retrieved 2007-NOV-10. Some corvids will eat

, and since they lack a specialized beak for tearing into flesh, they must wait until animals are opened, whether by other predators or as roadkill.

Reproduction

Many species of corvid are

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

, protecting territories throughout the year, or simply during the breeding season. In some cases, territories may only be guarded during the day, with the pair joining off-territory roosts at night. Some corvids are well-known communal roosters. Some groups of roosting corvids can be very large, with a roost of 65,000 rooks counted in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Some, including the rook and the

, are also communal nesters. The partner bond in corvids is extremely strong, and even lifelong in some species. This monogamous lifestyle, however, can still contain extra-pair copulations. Males and females build large nests together in trees or on ledges; jackdaws are known to breed in buildings and in rabbit warrens. The male will also feed the female during incubation. The nests are constructed of a mass of bulky twigs lined with grass and bark. Corvids can lay between 3 and 10 eggs, typically ranging between 4 and 7. The eggs are usually greenish in colour with brown blotches. Once hatched, the young remain in the nests for up to 6–10 weeks depending on the species. Corvids use several different forms of parental care, including

bi-parental care Parenting or child rearing promotes and supports the physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and educational development from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the intricacies of raising a child and not exclusively for a biological rel ...

and

cooperative breeding Cooperative breeding is a social system characterized by alloparental care: offspring receive care not only from their parents, but also from additional group members, often called helpers. Cooperative breeding encompasses a wide variety of group s ...

Cooperative breeding Cooperative breeding is a social system characterized by alloparental care: offspring receive care not only from their parents, but also from additional group members, often called helpers. Cooperative breeding encompasses a wide variety of group s ...

takes place when parents are helped in raising their offspring, usually by relatives, but also sometimes by non-related adults. Such

helpers at the nest Helpers at the nest is a term used in behavioural ecology and evolutionary biology to describe a social structure in which juveniles and sexually mature adolescents of either one or both sexes remain in association with their parents and help them ...

in most cooperatively-breeding birds are males, while females join other groups. White-throated magpie-jays are cooperatively-breeding corvids where the helpers are mostly female.

Intelligence

Jerison (1973) has suggested that the degree of brain

encephalization Encephalization quotient (EQ), encephalization level (EL), or just encephalization is a relative brain size measure that is defined as the ratio between observed and predicted brain mass for an animal of a given size, based on nonlinear regress ...

(the ratio of brain size to body size, EQ) may correlate with an animal's intelligence and cognitive skills. Corvids and psittacids have higher EQ than other bird families, similar to that of the apes. Among the Corvidae, ravens possess the largest brain to body size ratio. In addition to the high EQ, the Corvid's intelligence is boosted by their living environment. Firstly, Corvids are found in some of the harshest environments on Earth, where surviving requires higher intelligence and better adaptations. Secondly, most of the Corvids are omnivorous, suggesting that they are exposed to a wider variety of different stimuli and environments. Furthermore, many corvid species live in a large family group, and demonstrate high social complexities. Their intelligence is boosted by the long growing period of the young. By remaining with the parents, the young have more opportunities to learn necessary skills. When compared to dogs and cats in an experiment testing the ability to seek out food according to three-dimensional clues, corvids out-performed the mammals. A

meta-analysis Meta-analysis is a method of synthesis of quantitative data from multiple independent studies addressing a common research question. An important part of this method involves computing a combined effect size across all of the studies. As such, th ...

testing how often birds invented new ways to acquire food in the wild found corvids to be the most innovative birds. A 2004 review suggested that their cognitive abilities are on par with those of non-human

. Despite structural differences, the brains of corvids and great apes both evolved the ability to make geometrical measurements.

Empathy-consolation

Ravens are found to show bystander affiliation, and solicited bystander affiliation after aggressive conflicts. Most of the time, bystanders already sharing a valuable relationship with the victim are more likely to affiliate with the victim to alleviate the victim's distress ("consolation") as a representation of

empathy Empathy is generally described as the ability to take on another person's perspective, to understand, feel, and possibly share and respond to their experience. There are more (sometimes conflicting) definitions of empathy that include but are ...

. Ravens are believed to be able to be sensitive to other's emotions.

Empathy-emotional contagion

Emotion Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...

contagion refers to the

emotional state Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. There is no scientific consensus on a definit ...

matching between individuals. Adriaense et al. (2018) used a

bias Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is inaccurate, closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individ ...

paradigm to quantify

emotional valence Valence, also known as hedonic tone, is a characteristic of emotions that determines their emotional affect (intrinsic appeal or repulsion). Positive valence corresponds to the "goodness" or attractiveness of an object, event, or situation, ma ...

, which along with emotional arousal, define emotions. They manipulated the positive and negative affective states in the demonstrator ravens, which showed significantly different responses to the two states: behaving pessimism to the negative states, and optimism to the positive states. Then, the researchers trained another observer raven to first observe the demonstrator's responses. The observer raven was then presented with ambiguous stimuli. The experiment results confirmed the existence of negative emotional contagions in ravens, while the positive emotional contagion remained unclear. Therefore, ravens are capable of both discerning the negative emotions in their conspecifics and showing signs of empathy.

Interspecific communications

Interspecific communication Interspecies communication is communication between different species of animals, plants, or microorganisms. Although researchers have explored the topic for many years, only recently has interspecies communication been recognized as an establishe ...

s are evolutionarily beneficial for species living in the same environment. Facial expressions are the most widely used method to express emotions by humans. Tate et al. (2006) explored the issue of non-human mammals processing the visual cues from faces to achieve interspecific communication with humans. Researchers also examined the avian species' capabilities to interpret this non-verbal communication, and their extent of sensitivity to human emotions. Based on the experimental subject of American Crows' behavioral changes to varying human gazes and facial expressions, Clucas et al. (2013) identified that crows are able to change their behaviors to the presence of direct human gaze, but did not respond differentially to human emotional facial expressions. They further suggested that the high intelligence of the crows enables them to adapt well to human-dominated environments.

Personality conformity

It is considered difficult to study emotions in animals when humans could not communicate with them. One way to identify animal

personality Personality is any person's collection of interrelated behavioral, cognitive, and emotional patterns that comprise a person’s unique adjustment to life. These interrelated patterns are relatively stable, but can change over long time per ...

traits is to observe the consistency of the individual's behavior over time and circumstances. For group-living species, there are two opposing hypotheses regarding the assortment of personalities within a group: the social niche specialization hypothesis, and the conformity hypothesis. To test these two hypotheses, McCune et al. (2018) performed an experiment on the boldness of two species in Corvidae: the

Mexican Jay The Mexican jay (''Aphelocoma wollweberi'') Etymology: ''Aphelocoma'', from Latinized Ancient Greek ''apheles-'' (from ἀφελής-) "simple" + Latin ''coma'' (from Greek ''kome'' κόμη) "hair", in reference to the lack of striped or banded ...

and California Scrub-Jay. Their results confirmed the conformity hypothesis, supported by the significant differences in the group effects.

Social construction

The individual personality is both determined by genetics and shaped by

social context The social environment, social context, sociocultural context or milieu refers to the immediate physical and social setting in which people live or in which something happens or develops. It includes the culture that the individual was educated ...

s. Miller et al. (2016) examined the role of the developmental and social environment in personality formation in common ravens and carrion crows, which are highly social corvids. The researchers highlighted the correlation between social contexts and an individual's consistent behavior over time (personality), by showing that conspecific presence promoted the behavioral similarities between individuals. Therefore, the researchers demonstrated that social contexts had a significant impact on the development of the raven's and crow's personalities.

Social complexity

The

social complexity In sociology, social complexity is a conceptual framework used in the analysis of society. In the sciences, contemporary definitions of complexity are found in systems theory, wherein the phenomenon being studied has many parts and many possible ...

hypothesis suggests that living in a social group enhances the cognitive abilities of animals. Corvid ingenuity is represented through their feeding skills,

memorization Memorization (British English: memorisation) is the process of committing something to memory. It is a mental process undertaken in order to store in memory for later recall visual, auditory, or tactical information. The scientific study of mem ...

abilities, use of tools, and group behaviour. Living in large social groups has long been connected with high cognitive ability. To live in a large group, a member must be able to recognize individuals, and track the social position and foraging of other members over time. Members must also be able to distinguish between sex, age, reproductive status, and dominance, and to update this information constantly. It might be that social complexity corresponds to their high cognition, as well as contributing to the spread of information between members of the group.

Consciousness, culture-rudiments, and neurology

A study published in 2008 suggested that the

is the only non-mammal species known to be able to recognize itself in a

, but later research could not replicate this finding. Studies using very similar setups could not find such behaviour in other corvids (e.g., Carrion crows). Magpies have been observed taking part in elaborate grieving rituals, which have been likened to human

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

s, including laying grass wreaths.Animal emotions, wild justice and why they matter: Grieving magpies, a pissy baboon, and empathic elephants
Emotion, Space and Society xxx (2009) 1–4, Marc Bekoff Marc Bekoff, at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

, argues that it shows that they are capable of feeling complex emotions, including

grief Grief is the response to the loss of something deemed important, particularly to the death of a person to whom or animal to which a Human bonding, bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, ...

. Furthermore,

carrion crow The carrion crow (''Corvus corone'') is a passerine bird of the family Corvidae, native to western Europe and the eastern Palearctic. Taxonomy and systematics The carrion crow was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus ...

s show a neuronal response that correlates with their

perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...

of a stimulus, which some scientists have argued to be an empirical marker of ( avian/corvid) sensory consciousness—the conscious perception of sensory input—in the crows which do not have a

cerebral cortex The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in humans and other mammals. It is the largest site of Neuron, neural integration in the central nervous system, and plays ...

. A related study shows that the birds' pallium's neuroarchitecture is reminiscent of the mammalian cortex.

Tool use, memory, and complex rational thought

There are also specific examples of corvid cleverness. One

was documented cracking nuts by placing them on a crosswalk, letting the passing cars crack the shell, waiting for the light to turn red, and then safely retrieving the contents. A group of crows in England took turns lifting garbage bin lids while their companions collected food. Members of the corvid family have been known to watch other birds, remember where they hide their food, then return once the owner leaves. Corvids also move their food around between hiding places to avoid thievery—but only if they have previously been thieves themselves (that is, they remember previous relevant social contexts, use their own experience of having been a thief to predict the behavior of a pilferer, and can determine the safest course to protect their caches from being pilfered). Studies to assess similar cognitive abilities in apes have been inconclusive. The ability to hide food requires highly accurate spatial memories. Corvids have been recorded to recall their food's hiding places up to nine months later. It is suggested that vertical landmarks (like trees) are used to remember locations. There has also been evidence that

California scrub jay The California scrub jay (''Aphelocoma californica'') is a species of scrub jay native to western North America. It ranges from southern British Columbia throughout California and western Nevada near Reno to west of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sie ...

s, which store perishable foods, not only remember where they stored their food, but for how long. This has been compared to

episodic memory Episodic memory is the memory of everyday events (such as times, location geography, associated emotions, and other contextual information) that can be explicitly stated or conjured. It is the collection of past personal experiences that occurred ...

, previously thought unique to humans.

New Caledonian crow The New Caledonian crow (''Corvus moneduloides'') is a medium-sized member of the family Corvidae, native to New Caledonia. The bird is often referred to as the 'qua-qua' due to its distinctive call. It eats a wide range of food, including many t ...

s (''Corvus moneduloides'') are notable for their highly developed tool fabrication. They make angling tools of twigs and leaves trimmed into hooks, and then subsequently use the hooks to pull insect larvae from tree holes. Tools are engineered according to task, and apparently, also to learned preferences. Recent studies revealed abilities to solve complicated problems, which suggested high levels of innovation of a complex nature. Other corvids that have been observed using tools include: the

blue jay The blue jay (''Cyanocitta cristata'') is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to eastern North America. It lives in most of the eastern and central United States; some eastern populations may be migratory. Resident populations ar ...

, and green jay. Researchers have discovered that

s do not just use single objects as tools—they can also construct novel compound tools through assemblage of otherwise non-functional elements. Diversity in tool design among corvids suggests cultural variation. Again, great apes are the only other animals known to use tools in such a fashion.

Clark's nutcracker Clark's nutcracker (''Nucifraga columbiana''), sometimes referred to as Clark's crow or woodpecker crow, is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to the mountains of western North America. The nutcracker is an omnivore, but subsists mai ...

s and

s were compared in a 2002 study based on geometric rule learning. The corvids, along with a

domestic pigeon The domestic pigeon (''Columba livia domestica'' or ''Columba livia'' Form (zoology), forma ''domestica'') is a pigeon subspecies that was derived from the rock dove, rock dove or rock pigeon. The rock pigeon is the world's oldest domesticated ...

, had to locate a target between two landmarks, while distances and landmarks were altered. The nutcrackers were more accurate in their searches than the jackdaws and pigeons.

Implications and specific comparisons with other animals

Proportions of correct responses as a function of species

The

scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin that is often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops. ...

is an archetypal scare tactic in the agricultural business. However, due to corvids' quick wit, scarecrows are soon ignored, and used as perches. Despite farmers' efforts to rid themselves of corvid pests, their attempts have only expanded corvid territories, and strengthened their numbers. Contrary to earlier

teleological Teleology (from , and )Partridge, Eric. 1977''Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English'' London: Routledge, p. 4187. or finalityDubray, Charles. 2020 912Teleology. In ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' 14. New York: Robert Applet ...

classifications, in which they were seen as "highest" songbirds due to their intelligence, current

systematics Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phy ...

might place corvids—based on their total number of physical characteristics, instead of just their brains (which are the most developed of birds)—in the lower middle of the passerine evolutionary tree, dependent on which subgroup is chosen as the most derived. As per one observer: The other major group of highly intelligent birds of the order Psittaciformes (which includes 'true' parrots,

cockatoo A cockatoo is any of the 21 species of parrots belonging to the family Cacatuidae, the only family in the superfamily Cacatuoidea. Along with the Psittacoidea ( true parrots) and the Strigopoidea (large New Zealand parrots), they make up t ...

s, and

New Zealand parrot The New Zealand parrot family, Strigopidae,Nestoridae and Strigopidae are described in the same article, Bonaparte, C.L. (1849) ''Conspectus Systematis Ornithologiae''. Therefore, under rules of the ICZN, the first reviser determines priority, ...

s) is not closely related to corvids. A study found that four-month-old ravens can have physical and social cognitive skills similar to that of adult great apes, and concluded that the "dynamic of the different influences that, during

ontogeny Ontogeny (also ontogenesis) is the origination and development of an organism (both physical and psychological, e.g., moral development), usually from the time of fertilization of the ovum, egg to adult. The term can also be used to refer to t ...

, contributes to adult cognition" is required for the study of cognition. Available unde
CC BY 4.0

Disease

Corvids are reservoirs (carriers) for the

West Nile virus West Nile virus (WNV) is a single-stranded RNA virus that causes West Nile fever. It is a member of the family ''Flaviviridae'', from the genus ''Flavivirus'', which also contains the Zika virus, dengue virus, and yellow fever virus. The virus ...

in the United States. They are infected by mosquitoes (the vectors), primarily of the ''

Culex ''Culex'' or typical mosquitoes are a genus of mosquitoes, several species of which serve as vectors of one or more important diseases of birds, humans, and other animals. The diseases they vector include arbovirus infections such as West Nil ...

'' species.

Crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...

s and

s are quickly killed by this disease, so their deaths are an early-warning system when West Nile virus arrives in an area (as are horses and other bird-species deaths). One of the first signs that West Nile virus first arrived in the US in 1999 was the death of crows in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Relationship with humans

Several different corvids, particularly

s, have occasionally served as

pets A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/ cute appearances, int ...

, although they are not able to speak as readily as

parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...

s, and are not suited to a caged environment. It is illegal to own corvids, or any other

migratory bird Bird migration is a seasonal movement of birds between breeding and wintering grounds that occurs twice a year. It is typically from north to south or from south to north. Migration is inherently risky, due to predation and mortality. Th ...

, without a permit in the United States, due to the Migratory Bird Act. Humans have been able to coexist with many members of the Corvidae family throughout history, most notably

crows The Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) is a series of remote weapon stations used by the US military on its armored vehicles and ships. It allows weapon operators to engage targets without leaving the protection of their vehicle. ...

and

s (see: "Role in myth and culture" section below). These positive interactions have extended into modern times.

Role in myth and culture

Folklore often represents corvids as clever, and even mystical, animals. Some Native Americans, such as the

Haida Haida may refer to: Haida people Many uses of the word derive from the name of an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. * Haida people, an Indigenous ethnic group of North America (Canada) ** Council of the Haida Nati ...

, believed that a raven created the earth, and despite being a trickster spirit, ravens were popular on

totem A totem (from or ''doodem'') is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage (anthropology), lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system. While the word ...

s, credited with creating man, and considered responsible for placing the Sun in the sky. Due to their

diet, the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

peoples strongly associated corvids with war, death, and the battlefield; their great intelligence meant that they were often considered messengers, or manifestations of the gods, such as Bendigeidfran (Welsh for "Blessed Crow") or the Irish Morrigan (Middle Irish for "Great Queen"), both who were underworld deities that may be related to the later Arthurian

Fisher King The Fisher King (; ; ; ) is a figure in Arthurian legend, the last in a long line of British kings tasked with guarding the Holy Grail. The Fisher King is both the protector and physical embodiment of his lands, but a wound renders him impoten ...

. The Welsh '' Dream of Rhonabwy'' illustrates well the association of ravens with war. In many parts of Britain, gatherings of crows, or more often magpies, are counted using the divination rhyme: "''one for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told."'' Another rhyme is: "''one for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a funeral, four for a birth, five for heaven, six for hell, and seven for the Devil, his own sel."'' Cornish superstition holds that when a lone magpie is encountered, it must be loudly greeted with respect. Various

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts of ...

highly revered the raven, and the raven was often depicted as a motif on shields or other war gear in

Anglo-Saxon art Anglo-Saxon art covers art produced within the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon period of English history, beginning with the Migration period art, Migration period style that the Anglo-Saxons brought with them from the continent in the 5th century, ...

, such as the

Sutton Hoo Sutton Hoo is the site of two Anglo-Saxon cemeteries dating from the 6th to 7th centuries near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. Archaeology, Archaeologists have been excavating the area since 1938, when an undisturbed ship burial containing a wea ...

burial, and

Vendel period In Scandinavian prehistory, sometimes specifically Swedish prehistory, the Vendel Period, or Vendel Age (; ) appears between the Migration Period and the Viking Age. The name is taken from the rich boat inhumation cemetery at Vendel parish ...

art. The major deity,

Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...

, was so commonly associated with ravens throughout history that he gained the

kenning A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech, a figuratively-phrased compound term that is used in place of a simple single-word noun. For instance, the Old English kenning () means , as does (). A kenning has two parts: a base-word (a ...

"Raven God," and the

raven banner The raven banner ( ; ) was a flag, possibly totemic in nature, flown by various Viking chieftains and other Scandinavian rulers during the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries. Period description simply describes it as a war banner with a raven mark on i ...

was the flag of various

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

n chieftains. Odin was also attended by

Hugin and Munin In Norse mythology, Huginn and Muninn ( or ; roughly "mind and will" – ''see '') are a pair of ravens that serve under the god Odin and fly all over the world, Midgard, and bring information to the god Odin. Huginn and Muninn are attested in ...

, two

ravens Ravens may refer to: * Raven, a species of the genus ''Corvus'' of passerine birds Sports * Anderson Ravens, the intercollegiate athletic program of Anderson University in Indiana * Baltimore Ravens, a professional American football franchise * B ...

who flew all over the world, and whispered information they acquired into his ears. The Valravn sometimes appeared in modern Scandinavian folklore. On a shield and purse lid excavated among the

treasures, imagery of stylised corvids with scrolled beaks are meticulously detailed in the decorative enamel work. The corvid symbolism reflected their common

totemic A totem (from or ''doodem'') is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system. While the word ''totem'' itself is an ...

status to the Anglo-Saxons, whose pre-Christian indigenous beliefs were of the same origin as that of the aforementioned Vikings. The sixth century BCE

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

scribe

Aesop Aesop ( ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE; formerly rendered as Æsop) was a Greeks, Greek wikt:fabulist, fabulist and Oral storytelling, storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence re ...

featured corvids as intelligent antagonists in many fables. Later, in western literature, popularized by American poet

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

's work "

The Raven "The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a distraught lover who is paid a visit ...

", the

becomes a symbol of the main character's descent into madness. The children's book ''

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH ''Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH'' is a 1971 children's science fiction/fantasy book by Robert C. O'Brien, with illustrations by Zena Bernstein. The novel was published by the Los Angeles publishing house Atheneum Books. This book was th ...

'' and its animated film adaptation features a protagonist crow named Jeremy. Corvus hawaiiensis FWS

Status and conservation

Unlike many other bird

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

, corvid fitness and reproduction, especially with many crows, has increased due to human development. The survival and reproductive success of certain crows and ravens is assisted by their close relationship with humans. Human development provides additional resources by clearing land, creating shrublands rich in berries and insects. When the cleared land naturally replenishes, jays and crows use the young dense trees for nesting sites. Ravens typically use larger trees in denser forest. Most corvids are not threatened, and many species are even increasing in population due to human activity. However, a few species are in danger. For example, the destruction of the Southeast Asian rainforest is endangering

mixed-species feeding flock A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These ar ...

s with members from the family Corvidae. Also, since its

semiarid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

scrubland

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is an endangered

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

, the

Florida scrub jay The Florida scrub jay (''Aphelocoma coerulescens'') is one of the species of scrub jay native to North America. It is the only species of bird endemic to the U.S. state of Florida and one of only 15 species endemic to the continental United Stat ...

has a small and declining population. A number of island species, which are more vulnerable to

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

and habitat loss, have been driven to extinction, such as the

New Zealand raven The New Zealand raven (''Corvus moriorum'') is an extinct species of crow that was endemic to New Zealand. It went extinct in the 16th century. Taxonomy There were three subspecies: the North Island raven (''Corvus moriorum antipodum''), South ...

, or are threatened, like the Mariana crow. The

population of the United States has grown over the years. It is possible that the American crow, due to humans increasing suitable habitat, will cause Northwestern crows and

fish crow The fish crow (''Corvus ossifragus'') is a species of Corvus, crow associated with wetland habitats in the eastern and southeastern United States. Taxonomy and etymology The fish crow was given its Binomial nomenclature, binomial name by the ...

s to decline.

Species

FAMILY CORVIDAE Rufous Treepie I IMG 9850

Flickr_-_don_macauley_-_Corvus_crassirostris

Chough A chough ( ) is any of two species of passerine birds that constitute the genus ''Pyrrhocorax'' of the Corvidae (crow) family. These are the red-billed chough (''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax'') and the Alpine chough (or yellow-billed chough) (''Pyr ...

s **Genus '' Pyrrhocorax'' *** Alpine chough, ''Pyrrhocorax graculus'' ***

Red-billed chough The red-billed chough, Cornish chough or simply chough ( ; ''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax''), is a bird in the crow family, one of only two species in the genus ''Pyrrhocorax''. Its eight subspecies breed on mountains and coastal cliffs from the we ...

, ''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax'' *

Treepie The treepies (known also as crypsirinines from the subfamily's name, Crypsirininae) comprise four closely related genera (''Dendrocitta'', ''Crypsirina'', ''Temnurus'' and ''Platysmurus'') of long-tailed passerine birds in the family Corvidae. Th ...

s **Genus ''

Crypsirina '' Crypsirina '' is a small genus of long-tailed passerine birds in the crow and jay family, Corvidae. The two species are highly arboreal and rarely come to the ground to feed. The generic name is derived from the Greek words ''kruptō'', mean ...

'' ***

Hooded treepie The hooded treepie (''Crypsirina cucullata'') is a species of bird in the family Corvidae. It is endemic to Myanmar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. It is threaten ...

, ''Crypsirina cucullata'' *** Racket-tailed treepie, ''Crypsirina temia'' **Genus ''

Dendrocitta ''Dendrocitta'' is a genus of long-tailed passerine birds in the crow and jay family, Corvidae. They are resident in tropical South Asia, South and Southeast Asia. The generic name is derived from the Greek language, Greek words ''dendron'', mean ...

'' ***

Andaman treepie The Andaman treepie (''Dendrocitta bayleii'') is a species of bird in the family Corvidae. First described by Robert Christopher Tytler in 1863, it is endemic to the Andaman Islands of India, where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical ...

, ''Dendrocitta bayleii'' ***

Bornean treepie The Bornean treepie (''Dendrocitta cinerascens'') is a passerine bird belonging to the treepies genus, ''Dendrocitta'', of in the crow family, Corvidae. It is endemic to the island of Borneo. It is sometimes treated as a subspecies of the Sumatr ...

, ''Dendrocitta cinerascens'' ***

Grey treepie The grey treepie (''Dendrocitta formosae''), also known as the Himalayan treepie, is an Asian treepie, a medium-sized and long-tailed member of the crow family. The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1863. They are widely distrib ...

, ''Dendrocitta formosae'' ***

Collared treepie The collared treepie (''Dendrocitta frontalis''), also known as black-faced treepie or black-browed treepie, is an Asian treepie, a small perching bird of the crow family, Corvidae. This bird is slightly smaller than a blue jay and has the typic ...

, ''Dendrocitta frontalis'' ***

White-bellied treepie The white-bellied treepie (''Dendrocitta leucogastra'') is a bird of the crow family endemic to the forests of southern India. They overlap in distribution in some areas with the rufous treepie but are easy to tell apart both from appearance and ...

, ''Dendrocitta leucogastra'' ***

Sumatran treepie The Sumatran treepie or Sunda treepie (''Dendrocitta occipitalis'') is a species of bird in the family Corvidae. It is endemic to the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtro ...

, ''Dendrocitta occipitalis'' ***

Rufous treepie The rufous treepie (''Dendrocitta vagabunda'') is a treepie, native to the Indian Subcontinent and adjoining parts of Southeast Asia. It is a member of the crow family, Corvidae. It is long tailed and has loud musical calls making it very conspi ...

, ''Dendrocitta vagabunda'' **Genus '' Platysmurus'' ***

Malayan black magpie The Malayan black magpie (''Platysmurus leucopterus'') is a species of bird in the family Corvidae. Despite its name, it is neither a magpie nor, as was long believed, a jay, but a treepie. Treepies are a distinct group of corvids externally si ...

, ''Platysmurus leucopterus'' ***

Bornean black magpie The Bornean black magpie (''Platysmurus aterrimus''), also known as the black crested magpie, is a treepie in the family Corvidae. It is endemic to the Southeast Asian island of Borneo. Taxonomy The Bornean black magpie was formerly considered a ...

, ''Platysmurus aterrimus'' **Genus '' Temnurus'' *** Ratchet-tailed treepie, ''Temnurus temnurus'' *Oriental

s **Genus '' Cissa'' *** Common green magpie, ''Cissa chinensis'' ***

Indochinese green magpie The Indochinese green magpie (''Cissa hypoleuca''), also known as the yellow-breasted magpie, is a small colorful bird native to the forests of China all the way to Vietnam. Description This small bird is approximately 35 cm in length and h ...

, ''Cissa hypoleuca'' *** Javan green magpie, ''Cissa thalassina'' *** Bornean green magpie, ''Cissa jefferyi'' **Genus ''

Urocissa ''Urocissa'' is a genus of birds in the Corvidae, a family that contains the crows, jays, and magpies. The genus was established by German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1850. The type species was subsequently designated as the red-billed blue ...

'' ***

Taiwan blue magpie The Taiwan blue magpie (''Urocissa caerulea''), also called the Taiwan magpie, Formosan blue magpie (), or the "long-tailed mountain lady" (; Taiwanese Hokkien: Tn̂g-boé soaⁿ-niû), is a bird species in the crow family. It is endemic to Taiwan ...

, ''Urocissa caerulea'' *** Red-billed blue magpie, ''Urocissa erythroryncha'' ***

Yellow-billed blue magpie The yellow-billed blue-magpie , or gold-billed magpie (''Urocissa flavirostris''), is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, along with crows and jays. It forms a superspecies with the Taiwan blue magpie and the red-billed blue magpie. The s ...

, ''Urocissa flavirostris'' ***

Sri Lanka blue magpie The Sri Lanka blue magpie or Ceylon magpie (''Urocissa ornata'') is a brightly coloured member of the family Corvidae, found exclusively in Sri Lanka. This species is adapted to hunting in the dense canopy, where it is highly active and nimble. I ...

, ''Urocissa ornata'' *** White-winged magpie, ''Urocissa whiteheadi'' *Old World

s and close relatives **Genus ''

Garrulus ''Garrulus'' is a genus of Old World jays, passerine birds in the family Corvidae. Taxonomy and systematics The genus was established by French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The type species is the Eurasian jay (''Garrulus glanda ...

'' ***

Eurasian jay The Eurasian jay (''Garrulus glandarius'') is a species of passerine bird in the crow family Corvidae. It has pinkish brown plumage with a black stripe on each side of a whitish throat, a bright blue panel on the upper wing and a black tail. The ...

, ''Garrulus glandarius'' ***

Black-headed jay The black-headed jay or lanceolated jay (''Garrulus lanceolatus'') is roughly the same size as its close relative the Eurasian jay, but a little more slender overall except for the bill which is slightly shorter and thicker. The top of the head i ...

, ''Garrulus lanceolatus'' ***

Lidth's jay Lidth's jay (''Garrulus lidthi''), also known as the Amami jay, is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae native to Japan. Measuring up to in total length,

, ''Garrulus lidthi'' **Genus ''

Podoces The ground jays or ground choughs belong to a distinct group of the passerine order of birds in the genus ''Podoces'' of the crow family Corvidae. They inhabit high altitude semi-desert areas from central Asia to Mongolia. Ground jays show adapt ...

'' – ground jays ***

Xinjiang ground jay Xinjiang ground jay (''Podoces biddulphi'') or Biddulph's ground jay, is a species of bird in the family Corvidae. It is endemic to China. It is not larger than an adult human's hand and has a brownish white coat of feathers. Since 2004, the Inte ...

, ''Podoces biddulphi'' ***

Mongolian ground jay The Mongolian ground jay (''Podoces hendersoni'') or Henderson's ground jay, is a species of bird in the family Corvidae. Description The bird is light tan with iridescent blue on its primary feathers. It has a long, curved beak and a black stri ...

, ''Podoces hendersoni'' ***

Turkestan ground jay The Turkestan ground jay, grey ground jay or Pander's ground-jay (''Podoces panderi'') is a species of bird in the crow and jay family, Corvidae. It is found in central Asia, particularly Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. More specifical ...

, ''Podoces panderi'' *** Iranian ground jay, ''Podoces pleskei'' **Genus '' Ptilostomus'' ***

Piapiac The piapiac (''Ptilostomus afer'') is an African bird in the crow family, and is the only member of the genus ''Ptilostomus''. It is most closely related to the Central Asian ground jays. Taxonomy In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Br ...

, ''Ptilostomus afer'' **Genus '' Zavattariornis'' *** Stresemann's bushcrow, ''Zavattariornis stresemanni'' *

Nutcrackers A nutcracker is a tool designed to open nut (food), nuts by cracking their shells. There are many designs, including levers, screws, and ratchets. The lever version is also used for cracking lobster as food, lobster and crab as food, crab shells. ...

**Genus ''

Nucifraga The nutcrackers (''Nucifraga'') are a genus of four species of passerine bird, in the family Corvidae, related to the jays and crows. The genus ''Nucifraga'' was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the northe ...

'' ***

Northern nutcracker The northern nutcracker (''Nucifraga caryocatactes''), previously known as spotted nutcracker and Eurasian nutcracker, is a passerine bird in the crow family Corvidae. It is slightly larger than the Eurasian jay but has a much larger bill and a s ...

, ''Nucifraga caryocatactes'' ***

Southern nutcracker The southern nutcracker (''Nucifraga hemispila'') is a passerine bird in the crow family Corvidae. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the northern nutcracker (''Nucifraga caryocatactes'') and the Kashmir nutcracker (''Nucifraga m ...

, ''Nucifraga hemispila'' ***

Kashmir nutcracker The Kashmir nutcracker or large-spotted nutcracker (''Nucifraga multipunctata'') is a passerine bird related to the northern nutcracker and southern nutcracker. Until recently, it was considered a subspecies of the former. It is found in the wes ...

, ''Nucifraga multipunctata'' ***

, ''Nucifraga columbiana'' *Holarctic

s **Genus '' Pica'' ***

Black-billed magpie The black-billed magpie (''Pica hudsonia''), also known as the American magpie, is a bird in the corvid family found in the western half of North America. It is black and white, with the wings and tail showing black areas and iridescent hints ...

, ''Pica hudsonia'' *** Yellow-billed magpie, ''Pica nuttalli'' *** Maghreb magpie, ''Pica mauritanica'' ***

, ''Pica pica'' ****

Korean magpie The Oriental magpie (''Pica serica'') is a species of magpie found from south-eastern Russia to eastern China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and northern Indochina and Myanmar. Other names for the Oriental magpie include Korean magpie and Asian magpie. ...

, ''Pica (pica) serica'' **Genus ''

Cyanopica ''Cyanopica'' is a genus of magpie in the family Corvidae. They belong to a common lineage with the genus '' Perisoreus''. The genus ''Cyanopica'' was introduced in 1850 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. The type species was des ...

'' ***

Azure-winged magpie The azure-winged magpie (''Cyanopica cyanus'') is a bird in the crow family. It is 31–35 cm long and similar in overall shape to the Eurasian magpie (''Pica pica'') but is more slender with proportionately smaller legs and bill. It belong ...

, ''Cyanopica cyanus'' ***

Iberian magpie The Iberian magpie (''Cyanopica cooki'') is a bird in the crow family. It is long and similar in overall shape to the Eurasian magpie (''Pica pica'') but is slenderer with proportionately smaller legs and bill. It belongs to the genus '' Cyanop ...

, ''Cyanopica cooki'' *True crows (

s and rooks) **Genus ''

'' ***''Australian and Melanesian'' species ****

Little crow Little Crow III ( Dakota: ''Thaóyate Dúta''; 1810 – July 3, 1863) was a Wahpekute Dakota chief who led a faction of the Dakota in a five-week war against the United States in 1862. In 1846, after surviving a violent leadership contest w ...

, ''Corvus bennetti'' ****

Australian raven The Australian raven (''Corvus coronoides'') is a passerine Corvidae, corvid bird native to Australia. Measuring in length, it has an all-black plumage, beak and mouth, as well as strong, greyish-black legs and feet. The upperparts of its body ...

, ''Corvus coronoides'' ****

Bismarck crow The Bismarck crow (''Corvus insularis'') is a species of crow found in the Bismarck Archipelago. It was considered by many authorities to be a subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank ...

, ''Corvus insularis'' **** Brown-headed crow, ''Corvus fuscicapillus'' ****

Bougainville crow The Bougainville crow (''Corvus meeki'') is a species of bird in the crow family, Corvidae. It is found in on the island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea and the neighbouring Shortland Islands in the Solomon Islands. Within its range it is ...

, ''Corvus meeki'' ****

Little raven The little raven (''Corvus mellori'') is a species of the family Corvidae that is native to southeastern Australia. An adult individual is about in length, with completely black plumage, beak, and legs; as with all Australian species of ''Corv ...

, ''Corvus mellori'' ****

, ''Corvus moneduloides'' ****

Torresian crow The Torresian crow (''Corvus orru''), also called the Australian crow or Papuan crow, is a passerine bird in the crow family native to the north and west of Australia and nearby islands in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The species has a black p ...

, ''Corvus orru'' ****

Forest raven The forest raven (''Corvus tasmanicus''), also commonly known as the Tasmanian raven, is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae native to Tasmania and parts of southern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, such as Wilsons Promontory and Portland, ...

, ''Corvus tasmanicus'' ***** Relict raven, ''Corvus (tasmanicus) boreus'' **** Grey crow, ''Corvus tristis'' ****

Long-billed crow The long-billed crow (''Corvus validus'') is a crow that is endemic to the Northern Maluku Islands. This crow is large with glossy plumage, a large bill and white irises. It is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as ...

, ''Corvus validus'' ****

White-billed crow The white-billed crow (''Corvus woodfordi'') is a member of the crow family found on the Solomon Islands. Description It is a short and stocky forest bird (40–41 cm in length) with a short, squared-off tail and a relatively large head w ...

, ''Corvus woodfordi'' ***''Pacific island'' species **** Alalā (Hawaiian crow), ''Corvus hawaiiensis'' (formerly ''Corvus tropicus'') (

extinct in the wild A species that is extinct in the wild (EW) is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as only consisting of living members kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range ...

) **** Mariana crow, ''Corvus kubaryi'' ***''Tropical Asian'' species ****

Daurian jackdaw The Daurian jackdaw (''Coloeus dauuricus'') is a bird in the crow family, Corvidae, native to eastern Asia. It is closely related to the western jackdaw. The name derives from the Dauria region of eastern Russia. Description At about in length ...

, ''Coloeus dauuricus'' **** Sunda crow, ''Corvus enca'' **** Sulawesi crow, ''Corvus celebensis'' **** Samar crow, ''Corvus samarensis'' **** Sierra Madre crow, ''Corvus sierramadrensis'' **** Palawan crow, ''Corvus pusillus **** Flores crow, ''Corvus florensis'' ****

Large-billed crow The large-billed crow (''Corvus macrorhynchos''), formerly referred to widely as the jungle crow, is a widespread Asian species of crow. It is very adaptable and is able to survive on a wide range of food sources, making it capable of colonizing ...

, ''Corvus macrorhynchos'' ****

Eastern jungle crow The eastern jungle crow (''Corvus levaillantii'') is a bird in the family Corvidae. It is found in China, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, and Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam ...

, ''Corvus levaillantii'' ****

Indian jungle crow The Indian jungle crow (''Corvus culminatus'') is a species of crow found across the Indian subcontinent south of the Himalayas. It is very common and readily distinguished from the house crow (''Corvus splendens''), which has a grey neck. In the ...

, ''Corvus culminatus'' ****

House crow The house crow (''Corvus splendens''), also known as the Indian, greynecked, Ceylon or Colombo crow, is a common bird of the crow family that is of Asian origin but now found in many parts of the world, where they arrived assisted by shipping. I ...

, ''Corvus splendens'' **** Collared crow, ''Corvus torquatus'' **** Piping crow, ''Corvus typicus'' ****

Banggai crow The Banggai crow (''Corvus unicolor''), known as kuuyak in the Banggai language, is a member of the crow family from Banggai regency in the province of Central Sulawesi in Indonesia. It is listed as critically endangered by IUCN. It was feared e ...

, ''Corvus unicolor'' ***''Eurasian and North African'' species ****

Hooded crow The hooded crow (''Corvus cornix''), also colloquially called just hoodie, is a Eurasian bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. Widely distributed, it is found across Northern, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, as well as parts of the Middle E ...

, ''Corvus cornix'' ***** Mesopotamian crow, ''Corvus (cornix) capellanus'' **** Carrion crow (western carrion crow), ''Corvus corone'' ***** Eastern carrion crow, ''Corvus (corone) orientalis'' **** Rook, ''Corvus frugilegus'' ****

Western jackdaw The western jackdaw (''Coloeus monedula''), also known as the Eurasian jackdaw, the European jackdaw, or simply the jackdaw, is a passerine bird in the crow family. Found across Europe, western Asia and western North Africa; it is mostly resi ...

, ''Coloeus monedula'' ****

Fan-tailed raven The fan-tailed raven (''Corvus rhipidurus'') is a passerine bird of the Corvidae, crow family native to Eastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Description The fan-tailed raven is completely black including bill, legs and feet and the plumage ...

, ''Corvus rhipidurus'' ****

Brown-necked raven The brown-necked raven (''Corvus ruficollis'') is a larger bird (52–56 cm in length) than the carrion crow though not as large as the common raven. It has similar proportions to the common raven but the bill is not so large or deep and t ...

, ''Corvus ruficollis'' ***''Holarctic'' species ****

Common raven The common raven or northern raven (''Corvus corax'') is a large all-black passerine bird. It is the most widely distributed of all Corvidae, corvids, found across the Northern Hemisphere. There are 11 accepted subspecies with little variatio ...

, ''Corvus corax'' (see also next section) *****

Pied raven The pied raven (''Corvus corax varius'' morpha ''leucophaeus'') is an extinct colour morph of the North Atlantic subspecies of the common raven that was only found on the Faroe Islands. The last confirmed record was in 1902. The pied raven had l ...

, ''Corvus corax varius'' morpha ''leucophaeus'' (an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

color variant) ***''North and Central American'' species ****

, ''Corvus brachyrhynchos'' ***** Northwestern crow, ''Corvus brachyrhynchos caurinus'' ****

Chihuahuan raven The Chihuahuan raven (''Corvus cryptoleucus'') is a species in the family Corvidae that is native to the United States and Mexico. Description The proportions resemble the common raven with a heavy bill, but is about the same size as a carrion ...

, ''Corvus cryptoleucus'' ****

Tamaulipas crow The Tamaulipas crow (''Corvus imparatus'') is a crow found in northeastern Mexico and southern Texas. Description It is a relatively small and sleek looking crow, in length. It has very glossy dark, bluish plumage, which appears soft and silky ...

, ''Corvus imparatus'' ****

Jamaican crow The Jamaican crow (''Corvus jamaicensis'') is a comparatively small corvid (35–38 cm in length). It shares several key morphological features with two other West Indian species, the Cuban crow (''Corvus nasicus'') and the white-necked cr ...

, ''Corvus jamaicensis'' ****

White-necked crow The white-necked crow (''Corvus leucognaphalus'') is the largest of the four Caribbean corvids. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola (split between Haiti and the Dominican Republic); it was formerly also extant on Puerto Rico and Saint Croix ...

, ''Corvus leucognaphalus'' ****

Cuban crow The Cuban crow (''Corvus nasicus'') is a Corvus (genus), crow species native to the northern Caribbean. Taxonomy white-necked crow (''C. leucognaphalus'') of Hispaniola Jamaican crow ''C. jamaicensis''Hispaniolan palm crow, Hispaniolan ''C. pa ...

, ''Corvus nasicus'' ****

Fish crow The fish crow (''Corvus ossifragus'') is a species of Corvus, crow associated with wetland habitats in the eastern and southeastern United States. Taxonomy and etymology The fish crow was given its Binomial nomenclature, binomial name by the ...

, ''Corvus ossifragus'' ****

Palm crow The Hispaniolan palm crow (''Corvus palmarum'') is a relatively small corvid endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (in Haiti and the Dominican Republic) where it was formerly common but is now reduced in population. Taxonomy The Hispanio ...

, ''Corvus palmarum'' ****

Sinaloa crow The Sinaloa crow (''Corvus sinaloae'') is a crow native to western Mexico. Description Visually, it is nearly identical to and the same length (34–38 cm) as the Tamaulipas crow (''Corvus imparatus''). It has the same purple-glossed, silky, ...

, ''Corvus sinaloae'' **** Western raven, ''Corvus (corax) sinuatus'' ***''Tropical African'' species ****

White-necked raven The white-necked raven (''Corvus albicollis'') is a species of raven native to eastern and southern Africa. It is somewhat smaller (50–54 cm in length) than the common raven or its nearest relative, the thick-billed raven ''C. crassiros ...

, ''Corvus albicollis'' ****

Pied crow The pied crow (''Corvus albus'') is a widely distributed African bird species in the crow genus of the family Corvidae. Structurally, the pied crow is better thought of as a small crow-sized raven, especially as it can hybridise with the Somali ...

, ''Corvus albus'' **** Cape crow, ''Corvus capensis'' ****

Thick-billed raven The thick-billed raven (''Corvus crassirostris''), a corvid from the Horn of Africa, shares with the common raven the distinction of being the largest bird in the corvid family. The thick-billed raven averages in length, with a range of and we ...

, ''Corvus crassirostris'' **** Somali crow (dwarf raven), ''Corvus edithae'' *Boreal

s **Genus ''

Perisoreus The genus ''Perisoreus'' is a very small genus of jays from the Boreal regions of North America and Eurasia from Scandinavia to the Asian seaboard. An isolated species also occurs in north-western Sichuan of China. They belong to the Passerine ...

'' *** Canada jay, ''Perisoreus canadensis'' *** Siberian jay, ''Perisoreus infaustus'' *** Sichuan jay, ''Perisoreus internigrans'' *New World

s **Genus ''

Aphelocoma The passerine birds of the genus ''Aphelocoma'' include the scrub jays and their relatives. They are New World jays found in Mexico, western Central America and the western United States, with an outlying population in Florida. This genus belong ...

'' – scrub-jays ***

, ''Aphelocoma californica'' *** Island scrub jay, ''Aphelocoma insularis'' *** Woodhouse's scrub jay, ''Aphelocoma woodhouseii'' ***

, ''Aphelocoma coerulescens'' ***

Mexican jay The Mexican jay (''Aphelocoma wollweberi'') Etymology: ''Aphelocoma'', from Latinized Ancient Greek ''apheles-'' (from ἀφελής-) "simple" + Latin ''coma'' (from Greek ''kome'' κόμη) "hair", in reference to the lack of striped or banded ...

, ''Aphelocoma wollweberi'' *** Transvolcanic jay, ''Aphelocoma ultramarina'' *** Unicolored jay, ''Aphelocoma unicolor'' **Genus ''

Cyanocitta ''Cyanocitta'' is a genus of birds in the family Corvidae, a family which contains the crows, jays and magpies. The genus includes two crested jays with blue plumage and a distinctive feather crest. Found only in temperate North America, the Ro ...

'' ***

, ''Cyanocitta cristata'' ***

, ''Cyanocitta stelleri'' **Genus ''

Cyanocorax __NOTOC__ ''Cyanocorax'' is a genus of New World jays, passerine birds in the family Corvidae. It contains several closely related species that primarily are found in wooded habitats, chiefly in lowland tropical rainforest but in some cases also ...

'' ***

Black-throated magpie-jay The black-throated magpie-jay (''Cyanocorax colliei'') is a strikingly long-tailed magpie-jay of northwestern Mexico. Taxonomy The black-throated magpie-jay was formally described in 1829 by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors from a s ...

, ''Cyanocorax colliei'' *** White-throated magpie-jay, ''Cyanocorax formosa'' *** Black-chested jay, ''Cyanocorax affinis'' *** Purplish-backed jay, ''Cyanocorax beecheii'' *** Azure jay, ''Cyanocorax coeruleus'' *** Cayenne jay, ''Cyanocorax cayanus'' ***

Plush-crested jay The plush-crested jay (''Cyanocorax chrysops'') is a jay of the family Corvidae (which includes the crows and their many allies). It is found in central-southern South America: in southwestern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeastern ...

, ''Cyanocorax chrysops'' *** Curl-crested jay, ''Cyanocorax cristatellus'' *** Purplish jay, ''Cyanocorax cyanomelas'' *** White-naped jay, ''Cyanocorax cyanopogon'' *** Tufted jay, ''Cyanocorax dickeyi'' *** Azure-naped jay, ''Cyanocorax heilprini'' *** Bushy-crested jay, ''Cyanocorax melanocyaneus'' *** White-tailed jay, ''Cyanocorax mystacalis'' *** San Blas jay, ''Cyanocorax sanblasianus'' *** Violaceous jay, ''Cyanocorax violaceus'' *** Green jay, ''Cyanocorax luxuosus'' ***

Inca jay The Inca jay or querrequerre (''Cyanocorax yncas'') is a bird species of the New World jays, which is native to the Andes of South America. Taxonomy The Inca jay was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 17 ...

, ''Cyanocorax yncas'' *** Yucatan jay, ''Cyanocorax yucatanicus'' *** Brown jay, ''Cyanocorax morio'' **Genus ''

Cyanolyca ''Cyanolyca'' is a genus of small jays found in humid highland forests in southern Mexico, Central America and the Andes in South America. All are largely blue and have a black mask. They also possess black bills and legs and are skulking birds. ...

'' *** Silvery-throated jay, ''Cyanolyca argentigula'' *** Black-collared jay, ''Cyanolyca armillata'' *** Azure-hooded jay, ''Cyanolyca cucullata'' *** White-throated jay, ''Cyanolyca mirabilis'' *** Dwarf jay, ''Cyanolyca nanus'' *** Beautiful jay, ''Cyanolyca pulchra'' *** Black-throated jay, ''Cyanolyca pumilo'' *** Turquoise jay, ''Cyanolyca turcosa'' ***

White-collared jay The white-collared jay (''Cyanolyca viridicyanus'') is a species of bird in the family Corvidae. It is found in Andean forests in Peru and Bolivia. It was formerly considered conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic ...

, ''Cyanolyca viridicyanus'' **Genus ''

Gymnorhinus The pinyon jay (''Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus'') is a species of jay, and is the only member of the genus ''Gymnorhinus''. Native to Western North America, the species ranges from central Oregon to northern Baja California, and eastward as far a ...

'' ***

Pinyon jay The pinyon jay (''Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus'') is a species of jay, and is the only member of the genus ''Gymnorhinus''. Native to Western North America, the species ranges from central Oregon to northern Baja California, and eastward as far a ...

, ''Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus''

Explanatory notes

References

External links

Corvidae videos
on the Internet Bird Collection
corvids.de – Corvids-Literature-Database

Corvid Corner
A site about the Corvidae
AvesNoir
A site about corvids in art, culture, and literature.

Rooks reveal remarkable tool use

Clever New Caledonian crows can use three tools

Talking Eurasian magpie ''Pica pica''

Rare crow shows a talent for tool use
{{authority control Bird families Extant Miocene first appearances

Systematics, taxonomy, and evolution

Fossil record

Ecology

Behaviour

Food and feeding

Reproduction

Intelligence

Empathy-consolation

Empathy-emotional contagion

Interspecific communications

Personality conformity

Social construction

Social complexity

Consciousness, culture-rudiments, and neurology

Tool use, memory, and complex rational thought

Implications and specific comparisons with other animals

Disease

Relationship with humans

Role in myth and culture

Status and conservation

Species

Explanatory notes

References

Further reading

External links