The Cuban crow (''Corvus nasicus'') is a

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 ...

species native to the northern Caribbean.

Taxonomy

Two other Caribbean crow species, the white-necked crow (''C. leucognaphalus'') of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

and the

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 ...

(''C. jamaicensis''), appear to be very closely related to it, sharing several key morphological features. The ancestor of the fourth and fifth species from this region, the Hispaniolan (''C. palmarum'') and Cuban palm crows (''C. minutus''), would appear to be a later arrival (at least in evolutionary terms); both species show more similarities to the

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 ...

(''C. ossifragus'') of mainland

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and two Mexican species. This is despite ''C. minutus'' being

sympatric In biology, two closely related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter each other. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct spe ...

with ''C. nasicus'' on

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, indicating two distinct arrivals of crows onto the island, and a resulting

niche differentiation In ecology, a niche is the match of a species to a specific environmental condition. Three variants of ecological niche are described by It describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors (for e ...

, similar to ''C. leucognaphalus'' and ''C. palmarum'' on Hispaniola. Corvus_nasicus_1838

Description

A stocky, medium-sized ( in length) forest crow, the bill of this species is long and deep with a gentle curve towards the tip giving a large headed profile. The nasal bristles sweep forward then upward and frequently reveal the nostrils which are hidden in almost all other members of 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 ...

''. There is a patch of dark grey bare skin behind the browinsh-red eye and at the base of the lower mandible. The black plumage has a bluish-purple gloss in good light. The bill, legs and feet are black.

Distribution and habitat

It can be found quite commonly over most of the island of Cuba and on the nearby

Isla de la Juventud Isla de la Juventud (; ) is the second-largest Cuban island (after Cuba's mainland) and the seventh-largest island in the West Indies (after mainland Cuba itself, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Andros Island). The island was ...

, as well as the

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and no ...

, in woodland and areas that have been cleared for agriculture. It is frequently found around farms and villages where it seems to have adapted quite well to living in relatively close contact with human settlements.

Diet

Food consists of

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s though it does appear to take human food readily and will

scavenge Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding be ...

for scraps where the opportunity arises. Large noisy flocks can be seen feeding in trees and it will also readily feed on the ground especially where grain and other seeds have been spilt or left unprotected on the surface of a field.

Call

The voice is quite remarkable and is rather un-crow like, with strange liquid bubbling notes and high ringing sounds produced in various combinations. It also produces a thin screeched ''"aaaaauh"'' that rises in inflection.

Breeding

The nest is built in tall trees, though little further information about breeding is recorded as yet.

Image links

Good quality series of images

Cuban Crow videos, photos & sounds
on the eBird

Footnotes

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1584566

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 ...

Birds of Cuba Birds of the Turks and Caicos Islands Endemic birds of the Caribbean