Hooded Crow
Corvus cornix
Hooded crows are highly intelligent tool-users; they have been observed using bread crumbs as bait to catch fish and dropping nuts onto roads so cars will crack them.
- Scientific name
- Corvus cornix
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Passeriformes › Corvidae › Corvus
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- increasing
- Biome
- urban
- Habitat
- Open woodlands, agricultural fields, coastal cliffs, urban parks, and cities.
- Diet
- Omnivorous, feeding on carrion, small mammals, eggs, insects, seeds, and human food waste.
- Range
- Europe, Western Asia, Northeast Africa
- Size
- 44-52 cm in length, 90-100 cm wingspan, weighing 370-650 g
- Lifespan
- 7 to 9 years in the wild
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Secondary poisoning from rodenticides, habitat alteration, and occasional persecution by farmers.
- Safe to approach?
- Generally harmless to humans, but can become defensive during the spring nesting season (May-June). If a crow swoops near you, they are protecting fledglings nearby; walk away calmly. Safe to observe from a distance. If scratched or pecked, wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water and monitor for infection.
The hooded crow ( Corvus cornix ) (also called hoodie ) is a Eurasian bird species in the Corvus genus. Widely distributed, it is also known locally as Scotch crow and Danish crow . In Ireland it is called caróg liath or grey crow , just as in the Slavic languages and in Danish. In German it is called "mist crow" ("Nebelkrähe"). Found across Northern, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, as well as parts of the Middle East, it is an ashy...
Photo: hedera.baltica, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist
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