chough

/chuf/, n.

any of several crowlike Old World birds, esp. Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax, of Europe.

[1275-1325; ME choghe; akin to OE ceo, D kauw, Dan kaa]

* * *

▪ bird

 any of three crowlike birds with down-curved bills. In the family Corvidae (q.v.; order Passeriformes) are the common chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), of sea cliffs and rocky uplands from the British Isles to China, and the alpine chough (P. graculus), of high mountains from Morocco and Spain to the Himalayas. Both are about 38 cm (15 inches) long and glossy blue-black; the former is red-billed, the latter yellow-billed. These choughs are gregarious, have whistling calls, and are aerial acrobats. In the family Grallinidae is the white-winged chough (Corcorax melanorhamphus) of Australian forests. It is almost identical to the corvid choughs but has white wing patches and a less powerful, black bill. Flocks feed on the ground, with much jumping about. The mud-walled nest, high in a tree, is made and used cooperatively.

* * *