Corvidae

"Corvid" redirects here. Not to be confused with COVID-19.

Corvids
Temporal range: Middle Miocene to present
Blue jay
Cyanocitta cristata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Superfamily: Corvoidea
Family: Corvidae
Leach, 1820
Subfamilies
Distribution map of the Corvidae.
  Native   (Re)Introduced
  Extinct (post-1500)   Extinct (pre-1500)

Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, magpies, jackdaws, jays, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers.[1][2][3] In colloquial English, they are known as the crow family or corvids. Currently, 139 species are included in this family. The genus Corvus containing 50 species makes up over a third of the entire family.[4] Corvids (ravens) are the largest passerines.

Corvids display remarkable intelligence for animals of their size, and are among the most intelligent birds thus far studied.[5] Specifically, members of the family have demonstrated self-awareness in mirror tests (Eurasian magpies) and tool-making ability (e.g. crows and rooks[6]), skills which until recently were thought to be possessed only by humans and a few other higher mammals. Their total brain-to-body mass ratio is equal to that of non-human great apes and cetaceans, and only slightly lower than that of humans.[7]

They are medium to large in size, with strong feet and bills, rictal bristles, and a single moult each year (most passerines moult twice). Corvids are found worldwide, except for the southern tip of South America and the polar ice caps.[3] The majority of the species are found in tropical South and Central America and in southern Asia, with fewer than 10 species each in Africa and Australasia. The genus Corvus has re-entered Australia in relatively recent geological prehistory, with five species and one subspecies there. Several species of raven have reached oceanic islands, and some of these species are now highly threatened with extinction, or have already become extinct.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference madge was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference robertson2000 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference claytonemery2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Crows, mudnesters, birds-of-paradise". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  5. ^ Emery, N. J.; Clayton, Nicola S. (2004). "The mentality of crows: Convergent evolution of Intelligence in corvids and apes". Science. 306 (5703): 1903–1907. Bibcode:2004Sci...306.1903E. doi:10.1126/science.1098410. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 15591194. S2CID 9828891.
  6. ^ "Rooks reveal remarkable tool-use". BBC News. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  7. ^ Birding in India and South Asia: Corvidae. Retrieved 2007-NOV-10