Carrion Crow Corvus corone orientalis breeds Tianshan in Xinjiang and east across northern China. Southern limit of breeding range crosses northern Qinghai, northern Sichuan, and Hebei. In winter, some birds migrate south to south and southeast China. HABITAT & BEHAVIOR A supremely adaptable, intelligent, omnivorous scavenger. Found in largest urban areas, outside villages and near agricultural land, and in open woodland. Eats wide array of fruits and cereals as well as animal items, both invertebrate and vertebrate. Gathers in large roosts, especially in winter, often foraging with Large-billed Crow C. macrorhynchos. ID & COMPARISON Plumage, feet, eye, and stout bill black, plumage on upperparts usually showing metallic blue gloss. Base of upper mandible covered with bristly feathers. Juvenile has looser, sootier plumage. BARE PARTS Distinguished from Rook C. frugilegus by smoother slope to crown and by thicker, blunter bill with more decurved culmen. Large-billed Crow has even thicker dagger-like bill with even more pronounced arch to culmen and more distinctly peaked forehead. VOICE Very noisy. Angry, grating, and highly familiar caw-caw-caw-caw. — 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.
