We saw quite a few carrion crows in Portugal and our bird guide treated them quite dismissively and did not give them much attention. So I took a few photos, then left them alone. I get home and find that they have a relatively modest distribution and I'm very happy I got photos. Oddly, there are gobs of them in western Europe, then a significant distribution in Japan and a weakly mottled distribution through central Asia, but huge gaps in between.
 |
| Range map from Wikipedia. |
The hooded crow, which I've seen in St. Petersburg, Russia and Budapest, Hungary used to be considered a subspecies of the carrion crow, but is now considered a separate species.
 |
| In the Tagus River Estuary. |
The carrion crow is black with a green or purple sheen. It is smaller than a raven and differentiated from a rook by the beak, among other things.
 |
| In the Sado River Estuary. |
It is a bit nondescript and is, well, a crow, whether than rhymes with snow or cow (we've heard both).
ReplyDelete