Banggai Crow Corvus unicolor Scientific name definitions

40 cm; c. 175 g. A small, short-tailed crow with relatively small bill. Plumage is wholly black, weakly glossed with bluish or greenish, bases of hindneck feathers grey; iris greyish, usually quite paler on outer ring; tiny patch of bare skin behind eye (probably invisible in the field); bill and legs black. Sexes similar. Juvenile undescribed.

Banggai Is (Peleng I; probably extinct on Banggai I (3 King, B. (2009). Slender-billed Crow Corvus enca on Banggai and Peleng Islands, off Sulawesi. Kukila 14: 67–69. Close ) ), off E Sulawesi.

Remnant hill forest, to 900 m on W side of Peleng; most other islands in archipelago quite low-lying. Both in forested areas and in mosaics of forest and cultivation (4 Indrawan, M., Masala, Y., Dwiputra, D., Mallo, F.N., Maleso, A., Salim, A., Masala, F., Tinulele, I., Pesik, L., Katiandagho, D.S. and Sunosol (2010). Rediscovery of the Critically Endangered Banggai Crow Corvus unicolor on Peleng Island, Indonesia, part 1: ecology. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. 130: 154–165. Close ). Recorded at 300–1000 m (5 Rheindt, F. E., D. M. Prawiradilaga, Suparno, H. Ashari, and P. R. Wilton (2014). New and significant island records, range extensions and elevational extensions of birds in eastern Sulawesi, its nearby satellites, and Ternate. Treubia 41:61–90. Close ).

Main food is probably arthropods; there is one observation of a fledgling being fed arthropods, and local hunters report that it takes winged isopteran termites (4 Indrawan, M., Masala, Y., Dwiputra, D., Mallo, F.N., Maleso, A., Salim, A., Masala, F., Tinulele, I., Pesik, L., Katiandagho, D.S. and Sunosol (2010). Rediscovery of the Critically Endangered Banggai Crow Corvus unicolor on Peleng Island, Indonesia, part 1: ecology. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. 130: 154–165. Close ).

Birds in a group give a three-four-note creaking whistle kruik, kruik, kruik, kruik (lasting 2–3 s), which at close range sounds like nasal screams, and apparently serves as a contact call emitted both in flight and perched; also a whistled double kriuuk ... kruiik, which lasts c. 0·8–1·5 s and is apparently given most frequently in flight, and a melodious whistle, a two-note phrase initially descending then ascending, whu, weeeeeeee (lasting 2–3 s); juveniles give a repeated soft cawing wree-eek (c. 0·8–1·0 s), which may be a contact/alarm call; the whistled main calls and nasal screams are not unlike those of C. typicus (4 Indrawan, M., Masala, Y., Dwiputra, D., Mallo, F.N., Maleso, A., Salim, A., Masala, F., Tinulele, I., Pesik, L., Katiandagho, D.S. and Sunosol (2010). Rediscovery of the Critically Endangered Banggai Crow Corvus unicolor on Peleng Island, Indonesia, part 1: ecology. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. 130: 154–165. Close ).

Two active nests in May held 1 and 3 eggs respectively; unoccupied nests found in other months, and breeding thought to occur during and/or at the end of the wet season; nests in tall forest species  including Bombaceae, Calophyllum, Canarium, Palaquium, and other unidentified trees; the closest nest trees were usually 100–200 m apart, suggesting the species is probably not a colonial nester; eggs white, fairly heavily marked with faint purple to grey spots, and sparse bold speckles of brown (4 Indrawan, M., Masala, Y., Dwiputra, D., Mallo, F.N., Maleso, A., Salim, A., Masala, F., Tinulele, I., Pesik, L., Katiandagho, D.S. and Sunosol (2010). Rediscovery of the Critically Endangered Banggai Crow Corvus unicolor on Peleng Island, Indonesia, part 1: ecology. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. 130: 154–165. Close ).

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED. Restricted-range species: present in Banggai and Sula Islands EBA. Very rare; very poorly known. Following its initial discovery, in 1880s, remained undetected for more than a century until, in 1991, an individual was found on mountain slopes of Peleng, largest island of the archipelago, suggesting that this species survived on W side of this island. Subsequent searches in 2004, 2006 and 2007 confirmed that this species survived, but only in forest on mountain slopes of W Peleng and, in small numbers, at lower levels in centre of the island (4 Indrawan, M., Masala, Y., Dwiputra, D., Mallo, F.N., Maleso, A., Salim, A., Masala, F., Tinulele, I., Pesik, L., Katiandagho, D.S. and Sunosol (2010). Rediscovery of the Critically Endangered Banggai Crow Corvus unicolor on Peleng Island, Indonesia, part 1: ecology. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. 130: 154–165. Close ). Very rough estimates suggest global population of between 50 and 200 individuals. Since these observations were made, local conservationists have worked in conjunction with local communities to devise ways in which the crow and its forest habitat can be protected. Help is being provided to enable communities to practise more sustainable agriculture; development of ecotourism may also help in increasing local awareness of the archipelago's important biodiversity. Establishment of forest reserves on these islands is a matter that requires urgent attention.