Chough

Irish Name:	Cág cosdearg
Scientific name:	Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax
Bird Family:	Crows

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Conservation status

Status

Resident along rocky coasts in Munster, as well as parts of Connaught and Ulster.

Identification

Marginally larger than the familiar Jackdaw, at 40 cm in length, in many respects the Chough looks like a typical all-black crow. At close range, however, its unique long, down-curved red bill and bright red legs make identification easy; the Irish name of this species translates as “red-legged Jackdaw”. Choughs also have more prominently “fingered” flight-feathers than our other crows, giving them a distinctive silhouette in the air. Amongst our most accomplished aerobatic fliers, Choughs frequently swoop and soar in updrafts around cliffs, seemingly often just for fun. So skilled are these natural stunt pilots that they will sometimes even fly upside down, perform barrel rolls, etc.

Voice

A very distinctive “key-aww”.

Diet

Feeds mostly on insects and their larvae, worms and other subterranean invertebrates, using their curved bills to dig them out of the soil. They will also eat berries, grain, small mammals and birds and, in true crow fashion, pretty much anything else they can find.

Breeding

Nests in caves or crevices along coasts, or less frequently, in old buildings.

Wintering

Mainly local dispersal from breeding sites to favoured coastal areas.

Monitored by

Chough Survey.

Resident at coastal cliffs. Absent from the East.

Present throughout they year.