The Samar crow (''Corvus samarensis''), formerly known as the small crow, is a

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 in the genus ''Corvus'' of the family

Corvidae Corvidae is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan Family (biology), family of Songbird, oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, Rook (bird), rooks, magpies, jackdaws, jays, treepies, choughs, and Nutcracker (bird), nutcrackers ...

. It is endemic to the islands of

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

and

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. However, it has not been recorded in Mindanao since the 1980s. Its natural

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 ...

s are primary tropical moist lowland forest. It is now extremely rare and likely endangered. It is threatened by habitat loss and hunting.

Description and taxonomy

The Samar crow is a small, short-tailed crow with bare facial skin and a distinctive whirring flight style. It is found in pristine primary forests. Its call is described as a high pitched squeal not typical for a crow. It may be distinguished from the

Sierra Madre crow The Sierra Madre crow (''Corvus sierramadrensis'') is a passerine bird in the crow family Corvidae that is endemic to the island of Luzon in the Philippines. It was formerly considered as conspecific with the Samar crow with the combined taxa kn ...

by its shorter and thinner bill, more intense black plumage, and darker gray feathers on the base of its neck. Its call is also described as lower pitched than that of the Sierra Madre crow. It was previously considered a subspecies of the Slender-billed crow (now Sunda crow), but phylogenetic evidence proved that the slender-billed crow subspecies complex contained multiple distinct species. A split by the

International Ornithologists' Union The International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) is an international organization for the promotion of ornithology Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", ...

yielded a new species recognized as the small crow, which contained two subspecies - namely, the Samar crow, and the

. Shortly after, these 2 subspecies were themselves designated as distinct species. The species is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

: no

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are recognised. However, the population on Mindanao has not been recorded since the 1980s and may possibly be extinct. Due to a lack of records, it could possibly have represented a subspecies or even a distinct species. Though the lone recording of a Samar crow in Mindanao by Robert Kennedy demonstrated a lower pitched call compared to the other populations on Samar, there nonetheless remains a lack of evidence for its distinctiveness as a species or subspecies.

Ecology and behavior

This species is poorly studied and not much is known about its ecology. It is typically observed in pairs or small family groups. It is believed to be omnivorous and has been observed feeding with other birds in fruiting trees. It also feeds on insects, small lizards and roadkill. Nothing is known about its breeding habits, but based on studies of the closely related

Sunda crow The Sunda crow (''Corvus enca''), formerly known as the slender-billed crow, is a passerine bird of the family Corvidae, in the genus ''Corvus''. It is found from Malaysia to Borneo. The violet crow has been shown to be distinct genetically an ...

it is likely that it builds bulky masses of twigs on large trees. The average clutch size of the Sunda crow is 2 eggs and most of the incubation is done by the female.

Habitat and conservation status

It is found in tropical moist lowland forest, where it is extremely intolerant of any disturbance. IUCN has yet to assess this bird, but due to its preference for pristine forest, general rarity, and lack of records in past decades in

, it is likely to be threatened. Deforestation through illegal logging and

slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a form of shifting cultivation that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a Field (agriculture), field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody p ...

agriculture continues across most of its remaining habitat. It is also believed to face

interspecific competition Interspecific competition, in ecology, is a form of competition in which individuals of ''different'' species compete for the same resources in an ecosystem (e.g. food or living space). This can be contrasted with mutualism, a type of symbiosis. ...

from the

Philippine jungle crow The Philippine jungle crow (''Corvus philippinus'') is a species of crow endemic to the Philippines. It is a generalist and found across a wide range of habitats including near human settlements. It was formerly as subspecies of the Large-billed ...

, which is more aggressive and adaptable to disturbed habitats. The Samar crow occurs in only one protected area in the

Samar Island Natural Park The Samar Island Natural Park, in Samar, is the largest contiguous tract of old-growth forest in the Philippines. It is the country's largest terrestrial protected area, with an area of . The buffer is spread north to south over the island's three ...

, but actual protection and enforcement from

illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase, or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a p ...

and hunting are lax.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q40989090 Samar crow Endemic birds of the Philippines Samar crow Samar crow