Family Crows and Jays (Corvidae)
Least Concern
Yellow-billed Chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus)
Taxonomy
French: Chocard à bec jaune German: Alpendohle Spanish: Chova piquigualda
Other common names:
Alpine Chough
Taxonomy:
Corvus Graculus
Linnaeus
, 1766,Swiss Alps, Switzerland
.Hybrids with P. pyrrhocorax very rarely reported. Geographical variation slight; forsythi may be better included in digitatus. Three subspecies tentatively recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution
P. g. graculus
(Linnaeus, 1766) – Morocco (Rif and Atlas Ranges), Spain (Cantabrian Mts and Pyrenees), Corsica, throughout Alps, NC Italy (Apennines), and E through Dinaric Mts, Albania, Greece (including Crete), W Bulgaria and N Turkey to Caucasus region and N Iran.
P. g. digitatus
Ehrenberg, 1833 – #RS & SE Turkey, S to Lebanon and Mt Hermon, E across N Iraq to SW Iran (Zagros Mts).
P. g. forsythi
Stoliczka, 1874 – C Asia from C & N Afghanistan NE through Pamirs and patchily on through Tien Shan and Altai to Sayan Mts and, in S, from WC & N Pakistan (including isolated population in N Baluchistan) E in Himalayas to Nepal, Bhutan and extreme W Arunachal Pradesh, and C & SW China.
Descriptive notes
34–38 cm; male 194–277 g, female 160–254 g. Medium-sized, relatively small-headed corvid with fairly long tail, short bill slightly decurved; in flight,... read more
Voice
Typical call distinctive and unlike that of other corvids, including P. pyrrhocorax (... read more
Habitat
High-altitude mountain pastures with rocky crags above tree-line, descending into upper valleys in... read more
Food and feeding
Primarily invertebrates in spring and summer, with more varied diet in autumn and winter. In summer grasshoppers (Orthoptera), beetles (... read more
Breeding
Laying mainly early May to mid-Jun in Europe and Morocco, Jun and Jul in Lebanon and Kyrgyzstan, and breeds Apr–Jun in N Indian... read more
Movements
Basically sedentary; performs daily altitudinal movements from hill ridges to feeding areas lower... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. Locally common throughout much of wide range; this most noticeable through observations of flocks of non-breeders, generally of 30–200... read more
Vagrants
There is no mention of Tunisia, where the species has been recorded in 1998 (see Maumary, L. Vallotton, V. Dutoit & Z. Fleury (1998) : Chocard à bec jaune Pyrrhocorax graculus et Traquet isabelle Oenanthe isabellina en Tunisie. Alauda. 66 : 247-250.)
Accessible here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292645898_Chocard_a_bec_jaune_P...