Alpine Chough Pyrrhocorax graculus occurs in high country from northwest Africa and Spain to China, where forsythi is resident in mountains of Xinjiang, on Tibetan Plateau, and in Min Mountains in Gansu. Prefers higher altitudes than Red-billed Chough P. pyrrhocorax, though ranges often overlap. HABITAT & BEHAVIOR Regularly nests as high as 5000 m (16,400 ft.); descends in winter. Diet mainly insects in spring and summer, seeds and berries in autumn and winter. Acrobatic in air, soaring, diving, and swooping around cliffs on prominently “fingered” wings. Often forages on ground in large flocks. ID & COMPARISON Distinctive; unlikely to be confused with any other bird. Red-billed Chough has longer, red bill, more prominent fingers on outstretched wings, and shorter tail. Plumage black from head to tail with bluish-green gloss. Juvenile duller. BARE PARTS Yellow bill shorter and straighter than Red-billed Chough. Legs short, brown in juvenile, red in adult. VOICE Call sweeter and more rippling than Red-billed Chough. Song a series of squeaks and warbles, less piercing than call. — Craig Brelsford
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Daniel Bengtsson served as chief ornithological consultant for Craig Brelsford’s Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of China, from which this species description is drawn.
