Chough

The Chough, Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax is a member of the crow family, Corvidae.

It breeds locally in Great Britain, the Isle of Man, Ireland, southern Europe and the Mediterranean basin, the Alps, and in mountainous country across central Asia to China. It breeds in high mountains and on coastal sea cliffs. It is resident throughout its range.

In Britain it is restricted to the far west of Wales and Scotland, although it has recently recolonised Cornwall, where it was called the Cornish Chough, after an absence of many years. It was formally more widespread but has suffered from the loss of its specialist "machair" habitat and competition with the jackdaw, Corvus monedula.

The Chough's glossy black plumage, long curved red bill and red legs distinguish it from all other birds. It is often quite tame.

The Chough has a buoyant and easy flight. It soars above the cliffs with wide-spread primaries; the tips of these bend upwards as it curves and turns, sweeping round gracefully. With wings almost closed it shoots towards the surf at the foot of the crags, then checking itself, sweeps into some wave-washed cave.

Its movement on the ground has been described as "a short and very quick run," but it will walk as sedately as a rook. Its loud, ringing call "kee-aw" is clearer and louder than that of the Jackdaw. "Chuff", from which it gets its name, is another common cry.

Its food consists of insects, molluscs and other invertebrates.

A crack or fissure in the roof or sides of a tidal cave is a site for the nest in the Chough's breeding haunts, and hollows in steep crag and cliff faces are also utilised. The nest is, as a rule, bulky, and composed of roots and stems of heather[?], furze[?] or other plants, and is lined with wool or hair.

The eggs, laid in April or May, and three to six in number, are spotted, not always densely, with various shades of brown and grey on a creamy or slightly tinted ground.

The plumage of both sexes is glossy blue-black, with a green sheen on the wings; the bill and legs are coral red. In the young orange takes the place of red until the first autumn.

Image link

• Chough (http://members.lycos.co.uk/nigelblake2/web2/21july02/chough01.jpg)

The only other true chough is:

• the Alpine Chough, Pyrrhocorax graculus

• Hume's Ground Chough, Pseudopodoces humilis, which, although a corvid, is a ground-jay
• the White-winged Chough, Corcorax melanorhamphos, of the family Corcoracidae[?]