Short Description
Carrion crows are large, powerful songbirds with uniform black plumage and a strong bill. Their caw calls are characteristic.
The females are usually somewhat smaller and slimmer than the males.
Young birds have a light blue iris, their plumage appears duller and the base of the beak is not yet jet black.
Features
Carrion crow
Corvus corone
typical "caw" calls
strong beak
In the city
The carrion crow prefers to live in fields, forests, hedgerows, heaths and cities. In the meantime, it even occurs in higher population densities near settlements than in rural areas because of the better food supply and the lower pressure from hunting and predators.
In cities, the carrion crow's diet is often dominated by waste. In parks and cemeteries, they also like to be fed by people they are familiar with.
Fun Facts
Carrion crows like to gather in smaller groups in the evening and sleep together, often with rooks, in roost trees. The largest roosting community in Berlin is found in the evening at and around Alexanderplatz and comprises several thousand birds.
They are considered very intelligent animals and can, for example, distinguish between different human or crow faces.
The relationship to the hooded crow has long been debated. Recent genetic studies suggest that it is the same species with a different appearance.
- Endangerment level Germany: not endangered
Sources
Habitus , Loz (L. B. Tettenborn), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kr%C3%A4he_65(loz).JPG
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Charakteristischer Schnabel, Nebelkrähen-Morphe, Francisco M. Marzoa Alonso, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CrowHeadClosed1.jpg
Harrison, C. (1975) Jungvögel, Eier und Nester aller Vögel Europas, Nordafrikas und des Mittleren Ostens - Ein Naturführer zur Fortpflanzungsbiologie, Hamburg und Berlin: Verlag Paul Parey.
del Hoyo, J., Elliot, A. & Christie, D. (eds.) (2009) Handbook of the Birds of the World. Bush-shrikes To Old World Sparrows, volume 14, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions.
Makatsch, W. (1989) Wir bestimmen die Vögel Europas, Leipzig: Neumann Verlag.
Voigt, A. (2006) Exkursionsbuch zum Studium der Vogelstimmen, Heidelberg: Quelle & Meyer Verlag.
Fiedler, W. (2015) Die Vögel Mitteleuropas sicher bestimmen - Schlüssel zur Art-, Alters- und Geschlechtsbestimmung, Wiebelsheim: Quelle & Meyer Verlag.
Svensson, L. (2011) Der Kosmos Vogelführer - Alle Arten Europas, Nordafrikas und Vorderasiens, Stuttgart: Franckh Kosmos Verlag.
Lieckfeld, C.-P. & Straaß, V. (2002) Mythos Vogel, München: BLV.
Page „Aaskrähe“. : Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of last revision: 01.12.2020, 14:50 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aaskr%C3%A4he&oldid=206130515 (Accessed: 18.12.2020).