Specie's Page                                               Carrion Crows - Garden and Hedgerow

Carrion Crow:   UK Status: Resident.

Habitat: This is to be found in most types of habitats with tall mature trees, including parks, gardens, woodlands and hedgerows. It differs from the Raven in that it is a much smaller bird. Carrion Crows have purplish, or greenish sheen, with black legs and feet. The similar looking Rook has lighter, greyer coloured legs and feet, with a whitish grey beak.

Breeding: This bird makes a large nest of interwoven sticks, usually in very tall sturdy trees. They lay their three to five eggs very early in the year, from late February into March. The eggs are greenish in colour, and are usually heavily speckled and streaked with dark brown.

Comment: This is a common bird throughout most of the British Isles. They are quite sociable during the winter months, but more solitary in the breeding season. Carrion Crows like many birds are prone to leucism, especially as they get older. Leucistic genes cause the body not to produce enough melanin in parts of the body, causing a lack of pigmentation in parts, or all of the plumage. The result is greyish, or white patches, rarely it affects the whole bird.