Brown-necked Raven Corvus ruficollis Scientific name definitions

52–56 cm; 500–647 g. Large corvid with distinctly elongated and pointed throat hackles often slightly forked at tip. Plumage is mostly blackish , glossed dark green on crown and upperparts , glossed violet on upperwing and tail; nape, upper mantle, throat and side of neck shiny brown, glossed with bronze-purple; underparts sooty black, with violet gloss on breast and flanks; iris dark brown; bill and legs black. Distinguished from most races of C. corax mainly by smaller size, slimmer build, shorter throat hackles, slimmer bill , brown colour on head and neck, and in flight by narrower wings with more pointed wingtip. Sexes similar. Juvenile is less highly glossed than adult, with head and underparts duller greyish-black, becoming browner on flanks and belly.

Desert regions of C Asia, N Africa and Middle East: S & C Kazakhstan S in plains to Turkmenistan and probably SW Tajikistan; Cape Verde Is; from S Morocco, Algeria (except N) and S Tunisia S to Mauritania and N Senegal, E to Libya (except N), N Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, N Nigeria, C Chad, Egypt (including Sinai), N & C Sudan and W Eritrea; Israel and Jordan S throughout Arabian Peninsula, E through S Syria, C & S Iraq and S & E Iran to SW Pakistan (Makran coast) and plains of N Afghanistan (probably also extreme SW Afghanistan, in Seistan); Socotra I (off NE Somalia).

Semi-desert and desert plains, mountain foothills including desert cultivation, dry savanna and oases, desert settlements, rubbish dumps and army camps; also barren islands with some cultivation (Cape Verdes). Favours areas with desert shrubbery , e.g. tamarisk (Tamarix), saxaul (Haloxylon) and wormwood (Artemisia). Although preferring plains, it is widespread in the higher ground of Eastern Desert of Egypt, where reported as breeding at up to 2000 m. Tends usually to be replaced in mountains by C. corax in places where ranges meet, but in many areas (e.g. Iran and W India) latter inhabits desert plains, too.

Omnivorous; mainly carnivorous. Takes wide range of terrestrial invertebrates and vertebrates, from molluscs, locusts and crickets (Orthoptera), beetles (Coleoptera), caterpillars, termites (Isoptera), spiders (Araneae) and ticks (Ixodoidea) to small snakes, tortoises, lizards, birds and small mammals. Robs bird nests, even visiting mangroves of inshore islands to take eggs of Western Reef Egret (Egretta gularis); kills sickly newborn lambs and gazelles. Report of a flock chasing a hare (Lepus), flock-members trying to hit it with their feet. Patrols roads in search of roadkills and shorelines for frogs and dead fish. Scavenges about settlements and rubbish dumps. Searches for ectoparasites on neck and head of donkeys and camels, also pecks at and aggravates sores on animals. Joins vultures and other scavengers around slaughterhouses and carcasses. Takes a good deal of plant material such as maize, barley, grass seeds, dates, fruit and berries, also various human food scraps in villages. Captive bird seen to hide surplus food items. Digs in ground, and turns over stones and dung in search of grain and insect larvae; walks and hops confidently on ground. Seen to catch locusts in flight with feet; observed to work co-operatively, one or two birds acting as "beaters" to flush locusts into air, to be captured by other ravens. Forages alone and in pairs; non-breeders form larger gatherings, reaching as many as 1000 individuals at roosts on rare occasions (such numbers reported from Israel and Cape Verdes), but in C Asia gatherings of 100 considered notable. Roosts in trees by choice, also at times on cliff ledges and increasingly so on roadside wires and electricity pylons.

Typical call a dry, flat "aarg-aarg-aarg" of varying intensity, often reminiscent of the "caw" of C. frugilegus. Several other calls include drawn-out "crrrarrh" and abrupt "cruk-cruk", latter softer and less resonant than the deep croak of C. corax.