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White-winged chough
The white-winged chough (Corcorax melanorhamphos) is one of only two surviving species of the Australian mud-nest builders family, Corcoracidae, and is the only member of the genus Corcorax. It is native to southern and eastern Australia and is an example of convergent evolution as it is only distantly related to the European choughs that it closely resembles in shape, and for which it was named.
The white-winged chough was first described by French naturalist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1817 as Coracia melanorhamphos, other names given include Pyrrhocorax leucopterus by Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1820, and Corcorax australis by French naturalist René Lesson in 1830. before the current name was settled by Gregory Mathews in 1912. The specific epithet is derived from the Ancient Greek words melano- 'black' and rhamphos 'beak'.
It is placed in the family known as the mud-nest builders or Corcoracidae, written as Grallinidae in older books before the removal of the genus Grallina to the family Monarchidae. It is one of two remaining species, with the apostlebird (Struthidea cinerea), which differs in appearance but exhibits many behavioural similarities. The mudnest builder family Corcoracidae itself is now placed in a narrower 'Core corvine' group, which contains the crows and ravens, shrikes, birds of paradise, fantails, monarch flycatchers, and drongos.
It is only distantly related to the red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) and Alpine chough (P. graculus), which are members of the crow family Corvidae. The similarities in appearance of dark plumage and downturned bill are the result of convergent evolution.
White-winged choughs are easily recognised but often mistaken for "crows" (such as the Australian raven). The white-winged chough is a large, black bird—at about 45 cm (18 in) only a little smaller than a raven or a little larger than an Australian magpie—but has red eyes and a finer, slightly down-curved beak, similar to a European chough. These red eyes become swollen and brighter in colour when the bird is excited. In flight the large white patches in the wings are immediately obvious, and explain the descriptive part of their common name.
Their calls consist primarily of a grating alarm call and a descending piping call. The latter call is diagnostic for the bird in the wild, being significantly different in timbre and melody to that of other birds sharing their habitat.
Flight is a mixture of a slow, deep flapping and short glides: unlike their European namesakes, white-winged choughs are not particularly strong or agile fliers and spend the great majority of their time on the ground, foraging methodically through leaf litter for worms, insects, grain, and snails in a loose group, walking with a distinctive swagger, and calling softly to one another every few seconds. A rich find is the cause of general excitement and all come running in to share in it. The family group walks several kilometres each day through its large territory, foraging as it goes, taking to the air only if disturbed.
Choughs are territorial and highly social, living in flocks of from about 4 up to about 20 birds, usually all the offspring of a single pair. Because raising of young is a group effort bands of chough may kidnap fledglings from other family groups so that they will be able to help them to raise their chicks next year.
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White-winged chough
The white-winged chough (Corcorax melanorhamphos) is one of only two surviving species of the Australian mud-nest builders family, Corcoracidae, and is the only member of the genus Corcorax. It is native to southern and eastern Australia and is an example of convergent evolution as it is only distantly related to the European choughs that it closely resembles in shape, and for which it was named.
The white-winged chough was first described by French naturalist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1817 as Coracia melanorhamphos, other names given include Pyrrhocorax leucopterus by Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1820, and Corcorax australis by French naturalist René Lesson in 1830. before the current name was settled by Gregory Mathews in 1912. The specific epithet is derived from the Ancient Greek words melano- 'black' and rhamphos 'beak'.
It is placed in the family known as the mud-nest builders or Corcoracidae, written as Grallinidae in older books before the removal of the genus Grallina to the family Monarchidae. It is one of two remaining species, with the apostlebird (Struthidea cinerea), which differs in appearance but exhibits many behavioural similarities. The mudnest builder family Corcoracidae itself is now placed in a narrower 'Core corvine' group, which contains the crows and ravens, shrikes, birds of paradise, fantails, monarch flycatchers, and drongos.
It is only distantly related to the red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) and Alpine chough (P. graculus), which are members of the crow family Corvidae. The similarities in appearance of dark plumage and downturned bill are the result of convergent evolution.
White-winged choughs are easily recognised but often mistaken for "crows" (such as the Australian raven). The white-winged chough is a large, black bird—at about 45 cm (18 in) only a little smaller than a raven or a little larger than an Australian magpie—but has red eyes and a finer, slightly down-curved beak, similar to a European chough. These red eyes become swollen and brighter in colour when the bird is excited. In flight the large white patches in the wings are immediately obvious, and explain the descriptive part of their common name.
Their calls consist primarily of a grating alarm call and a descending piping call. The latter call is diagnostic for the bird in the wild, being significantly different in timbre and melody to that of other birds sharing their habitat.
Flight is a mixture of a slow, deep flapping and short glides: unlike their European namesakes, white-winged choughs are not particularly strong or agile fliers and spend the great majority of their time on the ground, foraging methodically through leaf litter for worms, insects, grain, and snails in a loose group, walking with a distinctive swagger, and calling softly to one another every few seconds. A rich find is the cause of general excitement and all come running in to share in it. The family group walks several kilometres each day through its large territory, foraging as it goes, taking to the air only if disturbed.
Choughs are territorial and highly social, living in flocks of from about 4 up to about 20 birds, usually all the offspring of a single pair. Because raising of young is a group effort bands of chough may kidnap fledglings from other family groups so that they will be able to help them to raise their chicks next year.