Order: Passeriformes

Family:  Corvidae

Scientific name: Corvus splendens, Vieillot, 1817

IUCN Red list status- Least Concern

Did you know?

  1. House Crows are good Scavenging agents.
  2. House Crows are very intelligent birds and is always wary and alert.

Description

House Crow in 40-45 cms long and weighs 320-400 Gms. They are slender, blackish medium-sized crows with long bill. Head, nape and breast sides are greyish, contrasting with the black body plumage. Traces of pink and blue colours can be seen within the black body if we look closely. Forehead, chin and throat are black. Under parts are paler grey. The black bill is longer than in other crows. Eyes are brown. Long legs and feet are black. Both sexes look similar. Juveniles are slightly darker, with darker grey areas and duller black plumage than in adults.

Diet

House Crow is omnivorous. It feeds on garbage, debris, and sewage. It also consumes lizards, fish, frogs, insects, crabs, nectar, fruits and cereal seeds. Chicks, eggs and small mammals are also eaten by them. The forage time is mainly day and is done solitarily or in small to very large groups.

Habitat

House Crow is well named. It is very sociable and lives near human inhabitations, towns and villages, mainly with harbour. It needs some trees too. This species is common in mangroves, coconut groves and plantations, particularly banyan trees. In India it is distributed throughout the union. They are also seen in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka

Reproductive Behaviour

Breeding season is mainly March to July. During the breeding season, they are seen in pairs, but usually lives in groups. It may become aggressive against raptors. Courtship displays consist of mutual preening and bill-rubbing, occasionally followed by rapid copulation which occurs in trees. The nest is always situated near habitations, in fork close to a tall tree-top, or on outer branches. Female builds the nest with thorny twigs, plastic, strings, electric wires etc. The depression in the centre is lined with wood fibres, bark pieces, grasses, hairs and other soft materials. Usually 3-5 eggs are laid. Incubation of 15-17 days is done by both parents, but mainly by female at night. Chicks are raised by both parents.

Call

The call is a harsh kraaw-kraaw-kraaw

Related Species and Sub Species

  • Corvus splendens splendens of India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh
  • Corvus splendens insolens of Myanmar.
  • Jungle Crow (Corvus macrorhynchos).
  • Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix).

Migratory Behaviour

Non Migratory, Common Resident