Glossy black crow with a long, slim, down-curved scarlet bill and red legs, tumbling along a sea cliff
Chough — the only red-billed British crow.
Nature · Birds
Chough
Resident · 39–40 cm
Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax — Corvidae (crows)
A glossy black crow of sea cliffs and short coastal turf, unmistakable for its long, curved, scarlet bill and red legs. In Britain it is confined to the western coasts of Wales, the Isle of Man, western Scotland and, since 2001, Cornwall, where it returned naturally after half a century and became a symbol of the county. It is the Cornish chough, and it appears on Cornwall's coat of arms.
How to spot them
- ▸Long, slim, down-curved scarlet bill and red legs on a glossy black crow — no other British corvid has them
- ▸Ringing, explosive two-syllable 'chee-ow', higher and more drawn out than a jackdaw's 'jack'
- ▸Buoyant, aerobatic flight along cliff faces, with deeply fingered wingtips and much tumbling
- ▸Broad, square-ended wings and a short square tail; probes short grazed turf for ants and larvae
- ▸Juvenile has a duller orange-yellow bill, so bill colour needs care in late summer
How to know it
A ringing two-syllable 'chee-ow' echoing off a cliff face, higher and more drawn out than a jackdaw's call
The chough's call, which gives it its name.
Returned naturally to Cornwall in 2001 after about half a century, and bred there again in 2002
Chough — three birds arrived at the Lizard from Ireland.
Needs short turf grazed by stock or rabbits on coastal cliff-tops, where it probes for ants
Chough — the loss of cliff grazing was the cause of its decline.
It appears on the coat of arms of Cornwall, supporting the shield alongside a fisherman and a miner
Chough — the Cornish chough; legend held that King Arthur's soul passed into one.
About 335 UK pairs, most of them in Wales, with a further population on the Isle of Man
Chough — the 2014–15 national survey.
Quick-fire facts
- •Scientific name Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax, 'flame-coloured raven', for the red bill and legs
- •The last British stronghold outside Wales and Scotland is Cornwall, where three wild birds arrived at the Lizard in 2001 and bred successfully in 2002 after about fifty years' absence
- •About 335 breeding pairs in the UK at the 2014–15 national survey, 236 of them in Wales (BTO BirdFacts); the Isle of Man holds a further substantial population
- •Green-listed in Birds of Conservation Concern 5 (2021), but on Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
- •It appears as a supporter on the coat of arms of Cornwall, and Cornish legend held that King Arthur's soul entered a chough, its red bill and legs standing for his blood
- •It needs short coastal turf, grazed by sheep, cattle or rabbits, to probe for ants and beetle larvae with its long bill
- •The pronunciation is 'chuff', and the name imitates the call
- •Its close relative the Alpine chough has a yellow bill and does not occur in Britain
- •It nests in sea caves, old mine shafts and cliff crevices, which is why derelict Cornish mine workings matter to it
Drill it — 8 cards
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Sources
- British Trust for Ornithology — BirdFacts: Chough
- RSPB — Chough