Northwestern crow

(Corvus caurinus)

galery

Description

Corvus caurinus is a species of crow. It was first described by SF Baird in 1858. Corvus caurinus belongs to the genus Corvidae. The IUCN classifies the species as least related. Corvus is a widely distributed genus of medium-sized to large birds in the family Corvidae. It includes species commonly known as crows, ravens and rooks. The species commonly encountered in Europe are the carrion crow, the hooded crow, the common raven, the jackdaw and the rook; those discovered later were named "crow" or "raven" chiefly on the basis of their size, crows generally being smaller. The genus name is Latin for "crow". The 45 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents except South America, and several islands. The Corvus genus makes up a third of the species in the family Corvidae. The members appear to have evolved in Asia from the corvid stock, which had evolved in Australia. The collective name for a group of crows is a "flock" or a "murder". Recent research has found some crow species capable of not only tool use, but also tool construction. Crows are now considered to be among the world's most intelligent animals with an encephalization quotient equal to that of many non-human primates. Medium-large species are ascribed to the genus, ranging from 34 cm (13 in) of some small Mexican species to 60–70 cm (24–28 in) of the large common raven and thick-billed raven, which together with the lyrebird represent the larger passerines. These are birds with a robust and slender appearance, equipped with a small rounded head with a strong conical beak, elongated and pointed, with a slightly curved end towards the bottom: the legs are strong and the tail is short and wedge-shaped. The coloration of the livery is dominated by shades of black, with some species having plumage with metallic iridescence and others that have white or gray areas on the neck or torso: Australian species have light eyes, while generally the irises are dark. Sexual dimorphism is limited. The members of the genus Corvus are believed to have evolved in Central Asia and radiated out from there into North America, Africa, Europe, and Australia. The latest evidence regarding the evolution indicates descent within the Australasian family Corvidae. However, the branch that would produce the modern groups such as jays, magpies, and large, predominantly black Corvus species had left Australasia and were concentrated in Asia by the time the Corvus species evolved.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:
Class: Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Corvidae
Genus:Corvus
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