Short Description

The rook is completely black with a blueish-purple metallic sheen. The grey-black bill is powerful with a slight downward curve. In adult birds, the base of the bill is bare and whitish.

In juvenile birds, the base of the bill is feathered.

Features

Rook

Corvus frugilegus

light base of beak in adults

Gruppe: Rufe

Krey, CC BY-SA 3.0

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Similar species

Common raven

Corvus corax

Common ravens are bigger with a black bill.

Jackdaw

Coloeus monedula

The jackdaw is grey-black and has a black bill.

In the city

Rooks are mainly seen in parks. Particularly in winter, rooks can be observed close to human habitation. Because their original habitat has come under threat, they have gradually been displaced into an urban environment. In winter, they feed on food scraps produced by humans or on winter feed provided for them.

As a supposed pest, rooks are still heavily persecuted in agriculture. In addition to picking out cereal seeds, they also feed on common pests such as mice and insects.

Fun Facts

Rooks gather in the evening for sleeping colonies (“rookeries”).
Their German name "Saatkrähe" (“seed crow”) refers to the fact that they look for food on agricultural land and particularly pick up freshly sown seeds.
Rooks hibernate in Germany.
Common hazards include the wide-scale use of pesticides, loss of habitat and the specific destruction of nesting places by humans.
Endangerment level Germany: not endangered

Sources

Habitus , Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rook-Corvus_frugilegus.jpg

im Flug, Ken Billington, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rook_(Corvus_frugilegus)_(11).JPG

Habitus , Shane Gavin, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Corvus_frugilegus_-Waterford,_Ireland-8.jpg

Page „Saatkrähe“. : Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of last revision: 21.01.2016, 09:19 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saatkr%C3%A4he&oldid=150493427 (Accessed: 09.02.2016).

Witt, K. & Steiof, K. (2013) Rote Liste und Liste der Brutvögel von Berlin, 3. version, 15.11.2013. : Berliner Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft e.V. (eds.) Berliner Ornithologischer Bericht, volume 23, Berlin: Berliner Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft e.V., 1-23.

Artenfinder (2016) Corvus frugilegus (Saatkrähe), URL: https://arteninfo.net/elearning/voegel/speciesportrait/3174 (Accessed: 21.04.2016).

NABU – Naturschutzbund Deutschland e.V. (n.d.) Die Saatkrähe. Vogel des Jahres 1986, URL: https://www.nabu.de/tiere-und-pflanzen/aktionen-und-projekte/vogel-des-jahres/1986-saatkraehe/ (Accessed: 21.04.2016).