chough

There are just two species in the genus, red-billed chough and alpine chough.{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=August 2024 | title=Crows, mudnesters, birds-of-paradise | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/crows/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=16 October 2024 }} The first to be described was the red-billed chough, named as Upupa pyrrhocorax by Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae in 1758. His genus Upupa contained species that had a long curved bill and a short blunt tongue. These included the northern bald ibis and the hoopoe, birds now known to be completely unrelated to the choughs.{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=C. | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. | publisher=Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii). | year=1758| quote = Rostrum arcuatum, convexum, subcompressum. Lingua obtusa, integerrima, triquetra, brevissima. |pages= 117–118|language=la}}
("Beak curved, convex, slightly compressed. Tongue blunt, undivided, three-angled, and very short.")

The Alpine chough was described as Corvus graculus by Linnaeus in the 1766 edition of the Systema Naturae.{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first= C. | author-link = Carl Linnaeus | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio duodecima | publisher=Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii) | year=1766| pages = 158|language=la}} Although Corvus is the crow genus to which the choughs' relatives belong, the English ornithologist Marmaduke Tunstall considered the chough to be sufficiently distinct to be moved to the a genus, Pyrrhocorax, which he described in his 1771 Ornithologia Britannica.{{cite book | last=Tunstall | first=Marmaduke | author-link= Marmaduke Tunstall | title= Ornithologia Britannica: seu Avium omnium Britannicarum tam terrestrium, quam aquaticarum catalogus, sermone Latino, Anglico et Gallico redditus | publisher=London, J. Dixwell | year=1771|pages=2|language=la}} The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek purrhos ({{lang|grc|πύρρος}}, "flame-coloured") and korax ({{lang|grc|κόραξ}}, "Raven, crow").{{cite web|title= Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax [Linnaeus, 1758] |work= BTOWeb BirdFacts|url= http://blx1.bto.org/birdfacts/results/bob15590.htm |publisher=British Trust for Ornithology |access-date=2008-02-06}}

The fossil record from the Pleistocene of Europe includes a form similar to the Alpine chough, and sometimes categorised as an extinct subspecies of that bird,(Hungarian with English abstract) Válóczi, Tibor (1999) "[http://www.matramuzeum.hu/e107_plugins/docrep_menu/docrep.php?0.getdoc.236.5.A Vaskapu-barlang (Bükk-hegység) felső pleisztocén faunájának vizsgálata (Investigation of the Upper-Pleistocene fauna of Vaskapu-Cave (Bükk-mountain))]{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Folia Historico Naturalia Musei Matraensis 23: 79–96 (PDF)Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002) [http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf Cenozoic Birds of the World] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520101755/http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf |date=2011-05-20 }} (Part 1: Europe) Ninox Press, Prague. {{Listed Invalid ISBN|80-901105-3-8}} (PDF){{cite journal | last1 = Mourer-Chauviré | first1 = C. | last2 = Philippe | first2 = M. | last3 = Quinif | first3 = Y. | last4 = Chaline | first4 = J. | last5 = Debard | first5 = E. | last6 = Guérin | first6 = C. | last7 = Hugueney | first7 = M. | year = 2003 | title = Position of the palaeontological site Aven I des Abîmes de La Fage, at Noailles (Corrèze, France), in the European Pleistocene chronology | journal = Boreas | volume = 32 | issue = 3| pages = 521–531 | doi = 10.1080/03009480310003405 | doi-broken-date = 18 December 2024 | bibcode = 2003Borea..32..521D }} and a prehistoric form of the red-billed chough, P. p. primigenius.{{cite book | editor-last = Milne-Edwards | editor-first =Alphonse | editor2-last=Lartet |editor2-first = Édouard |editor3-last = Christy |editor3-first=Henry |title = Reliquiae aquitanicae: being contributions to the archaeology and palaeontology of Pèrigord and the adjoining provinces of Southern France| url = https://archive.org/details/reliquiaeaquitan00lartuoft | year = 1875 | publisher = London: Williams| pages = [https://archive.org/details/reliquiaeaquitan00lartuoft/page/226 226]–247}}{{cite journal|last= Mourer-Chauviré |first= Cécile |year=1975 |title= Les oiseaux du Pléistocène moyen et supérieur de France |journal= Documents des Laboratoires de Géologie de la Faculté des Sciences de Lyon |volume= 64 |language=fr}} There are eight generally recognised extant subspecies of red-billed chough, and two of Alpine, although all differ only slightly from the nominate forms. The greater subspecies diversity in the red-billed species arises from an early divergence of the Asian and geographically isolated Ethiopian races from the western forms.{{cite journal|last= Laiolo|first= Paola|author2=Rolando, Antonio |author3=Delestrade, Anne |author4=De Sanctis, Augusto |year= 2004|title= Vocalizations and morphology: interpreting the divergence among populations of Red-billed Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax and Alpine Chough P. graculus |journal= Bird Study|volume= 51|issue= 3|pages= 248–255|doi=10.1080/00063650409461360|doi-access= free}}

Traditionally, the closest relatives of the choughs have been thought to be the jackdaws Coloeus and the typical crows Corvus,{{cite book | last = Goodwin | first = Derek |author2=Gillmor, Robert | title = Crows of the World | year =1976 | publisher = British Museum (Natural History)| place=London|isbn = 0-565-00771-8 |page = 151}} but more recent genetic studies have suggested the choughs are basal to a group of Asian jay genera (Crypsirina, Dendrocitta, Platysmurus, Temnurus),{{cite journal | last1=Ericson | first1=Per G. P. | last2=Jansén | first2=Anna-Lee | last3=Johansson | first3=Ulf S. | last4=Ekman | first4=Jan | title=Inter-generic relationships of the crows, jays, magpies and allied groups (Aves: Corvidae) based on nucleotide sequence data | journal=Journal of Avian Biology | publisher=Wiley | volume=36 | issue=3 | year=2005 | issn=0908-8857 | doi=10.1111/j.0908-8857.2001.03409.x | doi-access=free | pages=222–234}} or most recently, basal in the entire Corvidae.{{cite book | last1=Fjeldså | first1=Jon | last2=Christidis | first2=Les | last3=Ericson | first3=Per G. P. | title=The Largest Avian Radiation | publisher=Lynx edicions | publication-place=Barcelona | date=2020 | isbn=978-84-16728-33-6 | page=}} The genus Pyrrhocorax species differ from Corvus in that they have brightly coloured bills and feet, smooth, not scaled tarsi, and very short, dense nasal feathers.{{cite book | last = Madge | first = Steve | author-link = Steve Madge |author2=Burn, Hilary |title = Crows and Jays: A Guide to the Crows, Jays and Magpies of the World | year = 1994 | publisher = A & C Black | pages =132–135 | isbn = 0-7136-3999-7}} Choughs have uniformly black plumage, lacking any paler areas as seen in some of their relatives.

The two Pyrrhocorax are the main hosts of two specialist chough fleas, Frontopsylla frontalis and F. laetus, not normally found on other corvids.{{cite book |title= Fleas, Flukes and Cuckoos. A study of bird parasites. |author= Rothschild, Miriam |author-link= Miriam Rothschild |author2= Clay, Theresa |year= 1953 |publisher= Collins |location= London |pages= 89, 95 |url= https://archive.org/details/fleasflukescucko017900mbp }}

"Chough" was originally an alternative onomatopoeic name for the jackdaw, Corvus monedula, based on its call. The similar red-billed chough, formerly particularly common in Cornwall, became known initially as "Cornish chough" and then just "chough", the name transferring from one species to the other.{{cite book | last = Cocker | first = Mark |author2=Mabey, Richard |title = Birds Britannica | year = 2005 |location=London | publisher = Chatto & Windus | isbn = 0-7011-6907-9}} 406–8

The Australian white-winged chough Corcorax melanorhamphos, despite its similar shape and habits, is in a separate family Corcoracidae only moderately related to the Corvidae and not notably to the true choughs, and is an example of convergent evolution.

File:PicosdeEuropa391.JPG at Fuente De in the Picos de Europa|Both chough species breed in the Picos de Europa]]

Choughs breed in mountains, from Morocco and Spain eastwards through southern Europe and the Alps, across Central Asia and the Himalayas to western China. The Alpine chough is also found in Corsica and Crete and the red-billed chough has populations in Ireland, the UK, the Isle of Man, Brittany and two areas of the Ethiopian Highlands. Both species are non-migratory residents throughout their range, only occasionally wandering to neighbouring countries.

These birds are mountain specialists, although red-billed choughs also use coastal sea cliffs in Ireland, Great Britain and Brittany, feeding on adjacent short grazed grassland or machair;{{cite web|title=Chough |url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/species/casestudies/chough.asp |publisher=Royal Society for the Protection of Birds |access-date=2008-02-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330042817/http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/species/casestudies/chough.asp |archive-date=March 30, 2010 }} the small population on La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, is also coastal. The red-billed chough more typically breeds in mountains above {{convert|1200|m|ft|abbr=on}} in Europe,{{cite book | last = Mullarney | first = Killian |author2=Svensson, Lars |author3=Zetterstrom, Dan |author4=Grant, Peter |title = Collins Bird Guide | year = 1999 | publisher = Collins | isbn = 0-00-219728-6|pages = 334}} {{convert|2000|m|ft|abbr=on}} in North Africa and {{convert|2400|m|ft|abbr=on}} in the Himalayas. In that mountain range it reaches {{convert|6000|m|ft}} in the summer, and has been recorded at {{convert|7950|m|ft}} altitude on Mount Everest. The Alpine chough breeds above {{convert|1260|m|ft|abbr=on}} in Europe, {{convert|2880|m|ft|abbr=on}} in Morocco, and {{convert|3500|m|ft|abbr=on}} in the Himalayas. It has nested at {{convert|6500|m|ft|abbr=on}}, higher than any other bird species,{{cite journal | last= Bahn | first= H. |author2=Ab, A. | year= 1974 | title= The avian egg: incubation time and water loss | journal= The Condor | volume= 76 | issue=2 | pages= 147–152 | url = http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v076n02/p0147-p0152.pdf | doi =10.2307/1366724 | jstor= 1366724 }} and it has been observed following mountaineers ascending Mount Everest at an altitude of {{convert|8200|m|ft|abbr=on}}.{{cite book|title=Nature's Champions: The Biggest, the Fastest, the Best |author1=Silverstein Alvin |author2=Silverstein, Virginia | publisher = Courier Dover Publications |year=2003 | isbn=0-486-42888-5| page= 17}}

Where the two species occur in the same mountains, the Alpine species tends to breed at a higher elevation than its relative,{{cite book |editor-last=Snow |editor-first=David |editor2=Perrins, Christopher M | title = The Birds of the Western Palearctic concise edition (2 volumes) | publisher = Oxford University Press |year = 1998| location =Oxford | isbn = 0-19-854099-X }} 1466–68 since it is better adapted for a diet at high altitudes.

The choughs are medium-sized corvids; the red-billed chough is 39–40 centimetres (15–16 in) in length with a 73–90 centimetres (29–35 in) wingspan, and the Alpine chough averages slightly smaller at 37–39 (14.5–15.5 in) length with a {{convert|75|-|85|cm|in|abbr=on}} wingspan. These birds have black plumage similar to that of many Corvus crows, but they are readily distinguished from members of that genus by their brightly coloured bills and legs. The Alpine chough has a yellow bill and the red-billed chough has a long, curved, red bill; both species have red legs as adults. The sexes are similar, but the juvenile of each species has a duller bill and legs than the adult and its plumage lacks the glossiness seen in older birds. Other physical distinctions are summarised in the table below.

The two choughs are distinguishable from each other by their bill colour, and in flight the long broad wings and short tail of the red-billed give it a silhouette quite different from its slightly smaller yellow-billed relative. Both species fly with loose deep wing beats, and frequently use their manoeuvrability to perform acrobatic displays, soaring in the updraughts at cliff faces then diving and rolling with fanned tail and folded wings.{{cite book |last = Burton |first = Robert |title = Bird behaviour |year = 1985 |pages = [https://archive.org/details/birdbehaviour0000burt/page/22 22] |location = London |publisher = Granada |isbn = 0-246-12440-7 |url = https://archive.org/details/birdbehaviour0000burt/page/22 }}

The red-billed chough's loud, ringing chee-ow call is similar in character to that of other corvids, particularly the jackdaw, although it is clearer and louder than the call of that species. In contrast, the Alpine chough has rippling {{Not a typo|preep}} and whistled sweeeooo calls quite unlike the crows. Small subspecies of both choughs have higher frequency calls than larger races, as predicted by the inverse relationship between body size and frequency.{{cite journal|last= Laiolo |first= Paola |author2=Rolando, Antonio |author3=Delestrade, Anne |author4=de Sanctis, Augusto |date=May 2001 |title= Geographical Variation in the Calls of the Choughs |journal= The Condor |volume=103 |issue=2 |pages=287–297 |doi= 10.1650/0010-5422(2001)103[0287:GVITCO]2.0.CO;2|s2cid= 85866352 |issn= 0010-5422 |doi-access=free }}

File:Pyrrhocorax-graculus-0018-a.jpg.]]

Choughs are monogamous, and show high partner and site fidelity.{{cite journal | last= Delestrade | first= Anne|author2=Stoyanov, Georgi | year= 1995| title= Breeding biology and survival of the Alpine Chough Pyrrhocorax graculus | journal= Bird Study | volume=42 | pages=222–231| doi =10.1080/00063659509477171 | issue= 3 | doi-access= free | bibcode= 1995BirdS..42..222D}}{{cite journal | last1 = Roberts | first1 = P. J. | year = 1985 | title = The choughs of Bardsey | journal = British Birds | volume = 78 | issue = 5| pages = 217–32 }} Both species build a bulky nest of roots, sticks and plant stems lined with grass, fine twiglets or hair. It is constructed on a ledge, in a cave or similar fissure in a cliff face, or in man-made locations like abandoned buildings, quarries or dams. Red-billed will also sometimes use occupied buildings such as Mongolian monasteries. The choughs are not colonial, although in suitable habitat several pairs may nest in close proximity.

Both species lay 3–5 normally whitish eggs blotched with brown or grey, which are incubated by the female alone. The chicks hatch after two to three weeks. Red-billed chough chicks are almost naked, but the chicks of the higher altitude Alpine chough hatch with a dense covering of natal down.{{cite book |title= Avian Growth and Development. Evolution within the altricial precocial spectrum|author1=Starck, J Matthias |author2=Ricklefs, Robert E. |year= 1948 |publisher= Oxford University Press |location= New York |isbn= 0-19-510608-3 |page= 7}} The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge in 29–31 days after hatching for Alpine chough, and 31–41 days for red-billed.

The Alpine chough lays its eggs about one month later than its relative, although breeding success and reproductive behaviour are similar. The similarities between the two species presumably arose because of the same strong environmental constraints on breeding behaviour. The first-year survival rate of the juvenile red-billed chough is 72.5 percent, and for the Alpine it is 77%. The annual adult survival rate is 83–92% for Alpine, but is unknown for red-billed.

File:Red-billed Chough I IMG 7085.jpg

In the summer, both choughs feed mainly on invertebrates such as beetles, snails, grasshoppers, caterpillars, and fly larvae.Goodwin (1976) p. 158 Ants are a favoured food of the red-billed chough. Prey items are taken from short grazed pasture, or in the case of coastal populations of red-billed chough, areas where plant growth is hindered by exposure to coastal salt spray or poor soils.{{cite journal|last= Mccanch |first=Norman |date=November 2000 |title= The relationship between Red-Billed Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax (L) breeding populations and grazing pressure on the Calf of Man |journal= Bird Study |volume= 47 |issue=3 |pages=295–303|doi= 10.1080/00063650009461189 |s2cid=85161238 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2000BirdS..47..295M }}{{cite journal|last= Blanco |first= Guillermo |author2=Tella, José Luis |author3=Torre, Ignacio |date=July 1998 |title= Traditional farming and key foraging habitats for chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax conservation in a Spanish pseudosteppe landscape |journal= Journal of Applied Ecology |volume=35 |issue=23 |pages= 232–9| doi=10.1046/j.1365-2664.1998.00296.x |doi-access=free |bibcode= 1998JApEc..35..232B }} The chough's bill may be used to pick insects off the surface, or to dig for grubs and other invertebrates. The red-billed chough typically excavates to {{convert|2|-|3|cm|in|abbr=on}} in the thin soils of its feeding areas, but it may dig to {{convert|10|-|20|cm|in|abbr=on}} in suitable conditions.{{cite journal |last=Roberts | first= P. J. | year=1983| title=Feeding habitats of the Chough on Bardsey Island (Gwynedd) | volume=30 | issue = 1 | pages= 67–72 | doi=10.1080/00063658309476777 |journal=Bird Study | doi-access=free | bibcode= 1983BirdS..30...67R }}{{cite book | last = Morris | first = Rev.Francis Orpen | title = A history of British birds, volume 2 | year = 1862| publisher = London, Groombridge and Sons |page =29 }}

Plant matter is also eaten, and red-billed chough will take fallen grain where the opportunity arises; it has been reported as damaging barley crops by breaking off the ripening heads to extract the corn. Alpine choughs rely more on fruit and berries at times of year when animal prey is limited, and will readily supplement their winter diet with food provided by tourist activities in mountain regions, including ski resorts, refuse dumps and picnic areas. Both Pyrrhocorax species feed in flocks on open areas, often some distance from the breeding cliffs, particularly in winter. Feeding trips may cover {{convert|20|km|mi|abbr=on}} distance and {{convert|1600|m|ft|abbr=on}} in altitude. In the Alps, the development of skiing above {{convert|3000|m|ft|abbr=on}} has enabled more Alpine choughs to remain at high levels in winter.

Where their ranges overlap, the two chough species may feed together in the summer, although there is only limited competition for food. An Italian study showed that the vegetable part of the winter diet for the red-billed chough was almost exclusively Gagea bulbs, whilst the Alpine chough took berries and hips. In June, red-billed choughs fed mainly on caterpillars whereas Alpine choughs ate cranefly pupae. Later in the summer, the Alpine chough consumed large numbers of grasshoppers, while the red-billed chough added cranefly pupae, fly larvae and beetles to its diet.{{cite journal|last= Rolando |first= Antonio |author2=Laiolo, Paola |date=April 1997 |title= A comparative analysis of the diets of the chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax and the alpine chough Pyrrhocorax graculus coexisting in the Alps |journal= Ibis | volume=139 |issue=2 |pages=388–395 |doi= 10.1111/j.1474-919X.1997.tb04639.x }} In the eastern Himalayas in November, Alpine choughs occur mainly in Juniper forests where they feed on juniper berries, differing ecologically from the red-billed choughs in the same region and at the same time of year, which dig for food in the soil of the villages' terraced pastures.{{cite journal |author= Laiolo, Paola |year= 2003 |title= Ecological and behavioural divergence by foraging Red-billed Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax and Alpine Choughs P. graculus in the Himalayas |url= http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=15605736 |journal= Ardea |volume= 91 |issue= 2 |pages= 273–277 |access-date= 2009-07-16 |archive-date= 2012-06-12 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120612070106/http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=15605736 |url-status= dead }} (abstract)

Image:Bubo bubo winter 1.jpg is a predator of choughs.]]

Predators of the choughs include the peregrine falcon, golden eagle, and the Eurasian eagle-owl. The common raven will take nestlings.{{cite web |title= A year in the life of Choughs |url= http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/Default.aspx?tabid=206 |publisher= Birdwatch Ireland |access-date= 2008-02-06 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071119095200/http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/Default.aspx?tabid=206 |archive-date= 2007-11-19 |url-status= dead }}{{cite web|title=Release Update December 2003 |url=http://www.paradisepark.org.uk/choughs/2003/updatedec03.pdf |publisher=Operation Chough |access-date=2008-02-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719102348/http://www.paradisepark.org.uk/choughs/2003/updatedec03.pdf |archive-date=July 19, 2011 }}{{cite journal|last= Rolando |first= Antonio |author2=Caldoni, Riccardo |author3=De Sanctis, Augusto |author4=Laiolo, Paola |year= 2001|title= Vigilance and neighbour distance in foraging flocks of red-billed choughs, Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax |journal= Journal of Zoology|volume= 253|issue= 2| doi = 10.1017/S095283690100019X | pages= 225–232 }}{{cite journal|last= Blanco |first= Guillermo |author2=Tella, José Luis |date=August 1997 |title= Protective association and breeding advantages of choughs nesting in lesser kestrel colonies |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume= 54|issue=2 |pages=335–342 | doi=10.1006/anbe.1996.0465|pmid= 9268465|hdl= 10261/58091 |s2cid= 38852266 |hdl-access= free }} In northern Spain red-billed choughs prefer to nest near lesser kestrel colonies. This falcon, which eats only insects, provides a degree of protection against larger predators and the chough benefits in terms of a higher breeding success. The red-billed chough is occasionally parasitised by the great spotted cuckoo, a brood parasite for which the Eurasian magpie is the primary host.{{cite journal|last=Soler |first=Manuel |author2=Palomino, Jose Javier |author3=Martinez, Juan Gabriel |author4=Soler, Juan Jose |year=1995 |title=Communal parental care by monogamous magpie hosts of fledgling Great Spotted Cuckoos |url=http://www.eeza.csic.es/eeza/documentos/soler_communal%20parental%20care.pdf |journal=The Condor |volume=97 |issue=3 |pages=804–810 |doi=10.2307/1369188 |jstor=1369188 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326065655/http://www.eeza.csic.es/eeza/documentos/soler_communal%20parental%20care.pdf |archive-date=2009-03-26 }}

The choughs host bird fleas, including two Frontopsylla species, which are Pyrrhocorax specialist. Other parasites recorded on choughs include a cestode Choanotaenia pirinica,(Russian) {{cite journal |author= Georgiev B. B. |author2=Kornyushin, VV. |author3=Genov, T. |year= 1987 |title= Choanotaenia pirinica sp. n. (Cestoda, Dilepididae), a parasite of Pyrrhocorax graculus in Bulgaria |journal= Vestnik Zoologii |volume= 3 |pages= 3–7 }} and various species of chewing lice in the genera Brueelia, Menacanthus and Philopterus.{{cite journal |author= Kellogg, V.L. |author2= Paine, J.H. |year= 1914 |title= Mallophaga from birds (mostly Corvidae and Phasianidae) of India and neighbouring countries |url= http://phthiraptera.info/Publications/0429.pdf |journal= Records of the Indian Museum |volume= 10 |pages= 217–243 |access-date= 2011-11-23 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120424003121/http://phthiraptera.info/Publications/0429.pdf |archive-date= 2012-04-24 |url-status= dead |doi= 10.5962/bhl.part.5626 |s2cid= 81701158 }} Blood parasites such as Plasmodium have been found in red-billed choughs, but this is uncommon and apparently does little harm.{{cite journal |last=Blanco |first=Guillermo |author2=Merino, Santiago |author3=Tella, Joseé Luis |author4=Fargallo, Juan A |author5=Gajon, A |year=1997 |title=Hematozoa in two populations of the threatened red-billed chough in Spain |journal=Journal of Wildlife Diseases |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=642–5 |doi=10.7589/0090-3558-33.3.642 |pmid=9249715 |s2cid=9353982 |doi-access=free }} Parasitism levels are much lower than in some other passerine groups.{{cite journal|last= Palinauskas |first= Vaidas |author2=Markovets, Mikhail Yu |author3=Kosarev, Vladislav V |author4=Efremov, Vladislav D |author5=Sokolov Leonid V |author6= Valkiûnas, Gediminas |year=2005 |title= Occurrence of avian haematozoa in Ekaterinburg and Irkutsk districts of Russia |journal= Ekologija |volume= 4|pages= 8–12 }}

File:Pyrrhocorax naumann04.jpg (1780–1857)]]

Both Pyrrhocorax species have extensive geographical ranges and large populations; neither is thought to approach the thresholds for the global population decline criteria of the IUCN Red List (i.e., declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations), and they are therefore evaluated as being of Least Concern.{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=Pyrrhocorax graculus |volume=2016 |page=e.T22705921A87386602 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22705921A87386602.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}{{cite web | title = BirdLife International Species factsheet: Hirundo rustica | publisher =BirdLife International | url = http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=5755&m=0 |access-date=10 July 2009 }} However, some populations, particularly on islands such as Corsica and La Palma are small and isolated.{{cite journal| last= Reyes| first= Juan Carlos Rando| year= 2007| title= New fossil records of choughs genus Pyrhocorax in the Canary Islands: hypotheses to explain its extinction and current narrow distribution| journal= Ardeola| url= http://www.ardeola.org/volume/54(2)/article/185-195/1315| volume= 54| issue= 2| pages= 185–195| access-date= 2013-03-03| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191207203658/https://www.ardeola.org/volume/54(2)/article/185-195/1315| archive-date= 2019-12-07| url-status= dead}}(French) {{cite journal |author= Delestrade, A. |year= 1993|title= Status, distribution and abundance of the Alpine Chough Pyrrhocorax graculus in Corsica, Mediterranean France |journal= Alauda |volume= 61 |issue= 1 |pages= 9–17|url=http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=4706188 }}

Both choughs occupied more extensive ranges in the past, reaching to more southerly and lower altitude areas than at present, with the Alpine chough breeding in Europe as far south as southern Italy,{{cite book | last = Yalden | first = Derek |author2=Albarella, Umberto | title = The History of British Birds | year = 2009 | publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn = 978-0-19-921751-9|pages = 44–46 }} and both the decline and range fragmentation continue. Red-billed choughs have lost ground in most of Europe, and Alpine choughs have lost many breeding sites in the east of the continent.{{cite journal|doi=10.3409/173491505783995743|author1=Tomek, Teresa |author2=Bocheński, Zygmunt |year=2005|title=Weichselian and Holocene bird remains from Komarowa Cave, Central Poland|journal=Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia|volume=48A|issue=1–2|pages= 43–65|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal | last= Stoyanov | first= Georgi P. |author2=Ivanova, Teodora |author3=Petrov, Boyan P. |author4=Gueorguieva, Antoaneta | year=2008 | title= Past and present breeding distribution of the alpine chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus) in western Stara Planina and western Predbalkan Mts. (Bulgaria)| journal= Acta Zoologica Bulgarica | volume= Suppl. 2 | pages= 119–132}} In the Canary Islands, the red-billed chough is now extinct on two of the islands on which it formerly bred, and the Alpine was lost from the archipelago altogether.

The causes of the decline include the fragmentation and loss of open grasslands to scrub or human activities such as the construction of ski resorts,{{cite journal | last= Rolando | first= Antonio |author2=Patterson, Ian James |date=July 1993 | title= Range and movements of the Alpine Chough Pyrrhocorax graculus in relation to human developments in the Italian Alps in summer | journal= Journal of Ornithology| volume= 134 | issue=3 | pages=338–344 | doi =10.1007/BF01640430 | bibcode= 1993JOrni.134..338R | s2cid= 21498755 }} and a longer-term threat comes from global warming which would cause the species' preferred Alpine climate zone to shift to higher, more restricted areas, or locally to disappear entirely.{{cite journal | last= Sekercioglu | first= Cagan H | author2= Schneider, Stephen H. | author3= Fay, John P. Loarie | author4= Scott R. | year= 2008 | title= Climate change, elevational range shifts, and bird extinctions | journal= Conservation Biology | volume= 22 | pmid= 18254859 | issue= 1 | pages= 140–150 | url= http://ecologia.icb.ufmg.br/~rpcoelho/comunidades/Artigos_2008/ecs08_26.pdf | doi= 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2007.00852.x | bibcode= 2008ConBi..22..140S | s2cid= 36864195 | access-date= 2009-07-10 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150719013130/http://www.ecologia.icb.ufmg.br/~rpcoelho/comunidades/Artigos_2008/ecs08_26.pdf | archive-date= 2015-07-19 | url-status= dead }}

The red-billed chough, which breeds at lower levels, has been more affected by human activity, and the declines away from its main Alpine breeding areas have seen it categorised as "vulnerable" in Europe.{{cite web |title= Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax (breeding) |url= http://www.jncc.gov.uk/pdf/UKSPA/UKSPA-A6-102A.pdf |publisher= Joint Nature Conservation Committee |access-date= 2008-02-06 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110204121700/http://www.jncc.gov.uk/pdf/UKSPA/UKSPA-A6-102A.pdf |archive-date= 2011-02-04 |url-status= dead }} Only in Spain is it still common, and it has recently expanded its range in that country by nesting in old buildings in areas close to its traditional mountain breeding sites.{{cite journal|last= Blanco |first= Guillermo |author2=Fargallo, Juan A. |author3=Tella, José Luis |author4=Cuevas |author5=Jesús A. |date=February–March 1997 |title= Role of buildings as nest-sites in the range expansion and conservation of choughs Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax in Spain |journal=Biological Conservation |volume= 79 |issue=2–3 |pages=117–122 | doi=10.1016/S0006-3207(96)00118-8|bibcode= 1997BCons..79..117B |hdl= 10261/58104 |hdl-access=free }}

{{Further|Red-billed chough#In culture}}

Image:Defoe-daniel.jpg recorded the myth of the fire-raising red-billed chough]]

Although these are mainly mountain species with limited interactions with humans, the red-billed chough has a coastal population in the far west of its range, and has cultural connections particularly with Cornwall, where it appears on the Cornish Coat of Arms.{{cite web|title=The Cornwall County Council Coat of Arms |url=http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=13148 |publisher=Cornwall County Council |access-date=2008-02-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210234256/http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=13148 |archive-date=February 10, 2009 }} A legend from that county says that King Arthur did not die but was transformed into a red-billed chough,{{cite book | last = Newlyn | first = Lucy |others=Wilkinson, Lucy (illust.) |title = Chatter of Choughs: An Anthology Celebrating the Return of Cornwall's Legendary Bird | year = 2005 | publisher = Hypatia Publications| pages = 31 |isbn = 1-872229-49-2}} and hence killing this bird was unlucky.{{cite book |last=de Vries |first=Ad |title=Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery |year=1976 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofsymb0000vrie/page/97 97] |publisher=North-Holland Publishing Company |location=Amsterdam |isbn=0-7204-8021-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofsymb0000vrie/page/97 }}

The red-billed chough was formerly reputed to be a habitual thief of small objects from houses, including burning wood or lighted candles, which it would use to set fire to haystacks or thatched roofs.{{cite book | last =Defoe | first =Daniel | title =A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies [sic] (Appendix To Letter III) | url =http://vision.edina.ac.uk/text/chap_page.jsp?t_id=Defoe&c_id=12&p_id=478 | year =1724–1727 | publisher =Great Britain Historical Geographical Information System (GBHGIS) }}{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

As a high altitude species with limited contact with humans until the development of mountain tourism activities, the Alpine chough has little cultural significance. It was, however, featured together with its wild mountain habitat in Olivier Messiaen’s Catalogue d'oiseaux ("Bird catalogue"), a piano piece written in 1956–58. Le chocard des alpes ("The Alpine Chough") is the opening piece of Book 1 of the work.{{cite book | last = Hill |first = Peter |author2=Simeone, Nigel | title = Messiaen | year = 2005| publisher = Yale University Press | isbn=0-300-10907-5 |page=90}}

A group of choughs may be referred to fancifully or jocularly as a chattering{{Cite book|last=Lipton|first=James|url=https://archive.org/details/exaltationoflark0000lipt_x7z9|url-access=registration|title=An Exaltation of Larks|date=1991|publisher=Viking|isbn=978-0-670-30044-0|language=en}} or clattering.{{cite web|title=What do you call a group of ...?|url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/page/collectivenouns_us|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501131302/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/page/collectivenouns_us|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 1, 2011|work=Oxford Dictionaries|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=19 April 2011}} (See also: List of collective nouns)

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• White-winged chough, native to Australia

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{{Commons category|Pyrrhocorax|lcfirst=yes}}

{{Wikispecies|pyrrhocorax}}

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Category:Pyrrhocorax

Category:Taxa named by Marmaduke Tunstall