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User:Plcoffey/SandboxCorvus (genus)

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Corvus
Common Raven (Corvus corax)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Aves
Order:
Passeriformes
Family:
Corvidae
Genus:
Corvus

Species

See text

The genus Corvus consists of large Passerine birds that are all black, or black and white in coloration. Ranging in size from the relatively small jackdaws (Eurasian and Daurian) to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents (except South America) and several offshore and oceanic islands (including Hawaii).

Members of the group as a whole are known as True Crows,[1] although several common names exist. Some of the larger members are known as 'ravens', and many of the smaller species are often referred to as 'crows'. However, size is not a consistent indicator of epithet, and the terms 'crow' and 'raven' do not indicate any kind of taxonomic grouping.

Systematics

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The genus was originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th century work Systema Naturae.[2] The name is from the Latin corvus meaning "raven".[3] The type species is the Common Raven (Corvus corax); others named in the same work include the Carrion Crow (C. corone), the Hooded Crow (C. cornix), the Rook (C. frugilegus), and the Jackdaw (C. monedula). The genus was originally broader, as the Magpie was designated C. pica before later being moved into a genus of its own. There are now considered to be at least 42 extant species in this genus, and at least 14 extinct species have been described.

There is no good systematic approach to subdividing the genus at present. Generally, it is assumed that species from a geographical area are more closely related to each other than to other lineages, but this is not necessarily correct. For example, while the Carrion/Collared/House Crow complex is certainly closely related to each other, the situation is not at all clear regarding the Australian/Melanesian species. Furthermore, as many species are similar in appearance, determining actual range and characteristics can be very difficult, such as in Australia where the five (possibly six) species are almost identical in appearance.

The fossil record of crows is rather dense in Europe, but the relationships among most prehistoric species is not clear. Jackdaw-, crow- and raven-sized forms seem to have existed since long ago and crows were regularly hunted by humans up to the Iron Age[citation needed], documenting the evolution of the modern taxa. American crows are not as well documented.[citation needed] They appear to have evolved in central Asia and radiated out into North America, Africa, Europe, and Australia[citation needed].

The latest evidence[4] appears to point towards an Australasian origin for the early family (Corvidae) though the branch that would produce the modern groups such as jays, magpies and large predominantly black Corvus. Crows had left Australasia and were now developing in Asia. Corvus has since re-entered Australia (relatively recently) and produced five species with one recognized sub-species.

A surprisingly high number of species have become extinct after human colonization; the loss of one prehistoric Caribbean crow could also have been related to the last ice age's climate changes.[citation needed]

List of Species in the genus Corvus

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House Crows (Corvus splendens) grooming each other in Kolkata, India

Australian and Melanesian species

New Zealand species

Pacific island species

A Pied Crow (Corvus albus) in flight

Tropical Asian species

Eurasian and North African species

A Rook (Corvus frugilegus) at Dartmoor, England

Holarctic species

North and Central American species

Tropical African species

In addition to the prehistoric forms listed above, some extinct chronosubspecies have been described. These are featured under the respective species accounts.

Behavior

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Calls

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Corvus brachyrhynchos call
Call of Corvus brachyrhynchos (American Crow)
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Crows make a wide variety of calls or vocalizations. Whether the crows' system of communication constitutes a language is a topic of debate and study. Crows have also been observed to respond to calls of other species; this behavior is presumably learned because it varies regionally. Crows' vocalizations are complex and poorly understood. Some of the many vocalizations that crows make are a "caw", usually echoed back and forth between birds, a series of "caws" in discrete units, counting out numbers, a long caw followed by a series of short caws (usually made when a bird takes off from a perch), an echo-like "eh-aw" sound, and more. These vocalizations vary by species, and within each species vary regionally. In many species, the pattern and number of the numerical vocalizations have been observed to change in response to events in the surroundings (i.e. arrival or departure of crows). Crows can hear sound frequencies lower than those that humans can hear, which complicates the study of their vocalizations.

Intelligence

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Hooded Crow searching for food from a punctured garbage bag

True crows have long been viewed as very intelligent by humans (as seen in Aesop's fable of The Crow and the Pitcher)and they often score very highly on animal intelligence tests, some species even top the avian IQ scale.[5] Crows in the northwestern U.S. Show modest linguistic capabilities and the ability to relay information over great distances, live in complex, hierarchic societies involving hundreds of individuals with various "occupations."[citation needed]

Many of the examples of intelligence involve the various use of tools that the True Crows readily use.[6] For example, hooded crows in Israel have learned to use bread crumbs for fishing bait.[7] Another species, the New Caledonian Crow, has recently been intensively studied because of its ability to manufacture and use its own tools in the day-to-day search for food, including dropping seeds into a heavy trafficked street and waiting for a car to crush them open.[8] On October 5, 2007, researchers from the University of Oxford, England presented data acquired by mounting tiny video cameras on the tails of New Caledonian Crows. It turned out that they use a larger variety of tools than previously known, plucking, smoothing and bending twigs and grass stems to procure a variety of foodstuffs.[9]

Crow species in Australia are some of the few animals that have learned how to eat the toxic cane toad. Crows flip the toad over onto its back with it's beak and then kill them striking the thin underbelly skin with their beak. This thin skin lacks the poison glands that prevent the toads from being eaten from above.[10]

Additionally, it has been suggested that Common Ravens follow wolfs or human hunters to kills, effectively using them as "tools," that provide meat. It has even been rumored that they might lead hunters to animals so that they might then eat the leftovers.[11]

Color and society

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Use of color camouflage against predators

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Many crow species are all black. Most of their natural enemies, the raptors or "falconiformes", soar high above the trees, and hunt primarily on bright, sunny days when contrast between light and shadow is greatest.[citation needed] Crows take advantage of this by maneuvering themselves through the dappled shades of the trees, where their black color renders them effectively invisible to their enemies above[citation needed], in order to set up complex ambush attacks[citation needed]. Fledglings are much duller than adults in appearances of great strategic importance to their societies[citation needed]. It is perhaps here where we find the greatest difference between ravens and crows; ravens tend to soar high in the air as raptors do.[citation needed]

While hawks tend to be the primary daytime predators of crows, their most deadly predators, in many areas, are the owls that hunt by night[citation needed]. Crows also will often mob owls much more fiercely when they find them in daylight than the hawks and other raptors[citation needed]. Frequently crows appear to "play" with hawks, taking turns "counting coup" while escorting the raptor out of their territory. Their attacks on owls, on the other hand, possess a definite serious quality.[citation needed]

Color variations

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Even in species characterized by being all black, one will still occasionally find variations, most of which appear to result from varying degrees of melanin in the feathers or eyes, such as:

  • An otherwise all-black crow stunningly contrasted by a full set of brilliant, pure-white primary feathers.
  • Complete covering in varying shades of gray (generally tending toward the darker side).
  • Blue or red, rather than swarthy eyes (blue being more common than red).
  • Some combination of the above

A common misconception on the part of humans is that one of these individuals is somehow descended from an albino crow or raven, or is 'part albino'. This is not probable since the chances of an albino raven having albino offspring is rare. However, there are varying degrees of albinism in birds that range from a few patches of white to a rare completely white bird. Abnormal white feathers might not be due to albinism at all, but instead injury, disease, dietary deficiencies, circulatory problems, and even shock can change the color of a birds feathers. It is unknown whether or not these rare color variations effect how other ravens interpret each other, though other birds such as African penguins have been shown to pick on and shun the odd looking members of the group. For more information see Albinism in birds

Corvids and man

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Much of this is covered in other articles and probably is inappropriate for a genus level article. Links should be provided

Certain species have been considered pests; the Common Raven, Australian Raven and Carrion Crow have all been known to kill weak lambs as well as eating freshly dead corpses probably killed by other means. Rooks have been blamed for eating grain in the UK and Brown-necked Raven for raiding date crops in desert countries.[12]

See also

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Notes and Citations

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  1. ^ http://www.avianweb.com/crows.html
  2. ^ (in Latin) Linnaeus, C (1758). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii). p. 824. Archived from the original on 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  3. ^ Simpson, D.P. (1979). Cassell's Latin Dictionary (5 ed.). London: Cassell Ltd. p. 883. ISBN 0-304-52257-0.
  4. ^ http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0401892101v1
  5. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4286965.stm
  6. ^ http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/306/5703/1903
  7. ^ http://www.orenhasson.com/EN/bait-fishing.htm
  8. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Extreme#Season_1
  9. ^ Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel
  10. ^ http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/15/2033759.htm
  11. ^ Heinrich 1991
  12. ^ Goodwin 1983

References

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