Order PASSERIFORMES | Family CORVIDAE |
Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 Carrion Crow Races:
Corvus corone interpositus Laubmann, 1917
Common resident. Inhabits riparian forest, groves, forest-belts and reed beds on plains, and deciduous, mixed and coniferous forest in mountains up to 2600 m in Tien Shan and 2200 m in Altai, mostly near water. Appears at breeding sites in March. Breeding in separate pairs at 100-150 m, or sometimes 8-10 km one from other. Nest is built in tree (spruce, juniper, elm, apple, poplar, Russian olive, willow, birch, larch) 2-25 m off ground, or on tamarisk bush and reed clump, from twigs or reed stems and leaves, lined with plenty of hair. Clutches of 3-6 eggs are laid between late March and late May. Both parents feed juveniles, which fledge late May – early July. Repeated breeding after loss of the first nest with clutch is common. Autumn movement begins late September – early October. At Chokpak Pass singles rarely caught in October. Records of flocks of several hundred birds need confirmation, as they can be confused with Rooks, especially in autumn, when juvenile Rooks have feathered nostrils.
Breeding in mountains and foothills of southwest Altai and Kalbinskiy Altai, Saur, Dzhungarskiy Alatau and Tien Shan; in Zaysan and Balkhash-Alakol’ depressions and in territory adjacent to the southern shore of Balkhash lake, in Chu river valley, lower Sarysu river and throughout Syrdarya. In this part of Kazakhstan it ranges north up to lower Turgay river and Ulkayak river. In years when Turgay lakes are dry out (1940-1950), it nests in Naurzum Reserve, where hybrids with Hooded Crow recorded up to present. Wandering and wintering birds also recorded within this range. Migrating birds observed at Ustyurt, on Mugodzhary ridge, and vagrats recorded in Kokchetav uplands.
Gavrilov E. I., Gavrilov A. E. "The Birds of Kazakhstan". Almaty, 2005
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