Carrion Crow
Corvus corone
Carrion crows are known to use traffic as a tool, dropping hard-shelled nuts onto roads so that passing cars will crack them open.
- Scientific name
- Corvus corone
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Passeriformes › Corvidae › Corvus
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- increasing
- Biome
- urban
- Habitat
- Woodlands, farmland, parks, gardens, and urban centers.
- Diet
- Omnivorous scavenger: consumes carrion, insects, seeds, fruit, small mammals, and eggs.
- Range
- Western Europe, East Asia
- Size
- 45-52 cm in length with a wingspan of 93-104 cm
- Lifespan
- 7-15 years in the wild
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Illegal persecution by some agricultural sectors, habitat loss, and secondary poisoning from rodenticides.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless and highly intelligent. Maintain a respectful distance of 2-5 meters to avoid causing stress. Do not offer processed human food; if you must feed them, use unsalted peanuts or mealworms. If you find an injured crow, contact a local wildlife rehabilitator rather than handling it directly to avoid a defensive peck.
The carrion crow ( Corvus corone ) is a passerine bird of the family Corvidae and the genus Corvus which is native to western Europe and eastern Asia.
Photo: Charlotte Kirchner, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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