Red-billed Chough
Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax
Conservation Status
Least ConcernAves · Passeriformes · Corvidae
About
The red-billed chough, Cornish chough or simply chough is a bird in the crow family, one of only two species in the genus Pyrrhocorax. Its eight subspecies breed on mountains and coastal cliffs from the western coasts of Ireland and Britain east through southern Europe, North Africa and Middle East to Central Asia, India and China.
Fun Fact
Red-billed Choughs can ride thermals at altitudes over 8,000 meters and have been recorded flying higher than the summit of Everest.
Quick Facts
Habitat
Habitat is high mountains; it is found between 2,000 and 2,500 metres (6,600 and 8,200 ft) in North Africa, and mainly between 2,400 and 3,000 metres (7,900 and 9,800 ft) in the Himalayas.
Diet
Eat vegetable matter including fallen grain, and in the Himalayas has been reported as damaging barley crops by breaking off the ripening heads to extract the corn.
Lifespan
17 years
Threats
- Habitat Change
- Human Disturbance