Crow

Typical crows and allies
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Corvidae Genus: Corvus

The true crows are in the genus Corvus; they are large Passerine birds. As a group they show remarkable examples of intelligence and one species, the New Caledonian Crow, has recently been intensively studied because of its ability to manufacture and use its own tools in the day-to-day finding of food.

All temperate continents (except, surprisingly, South America) and several offshore and oceanic islands (including Hawaii) have representatives of the 40 or so members of this genus.

Crows appear to have evolved in central Asia and radiated out into North America (including Mexico), Africa, Europe, and Australia.

They range in size from the relatively small pigeon-sized jackdaws (Eurasian and Daurian) to the Common Raven of the Palearctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia.

Australian species:

• Australian Raven C. coronoides
• Forest Raven C. tasmanicus
  • Relict Raven C. t. boreus
• Little Crow C. bennetti
• Little Raven C. mellori
• Torresian Crow C. orru

North American species:

• American Crow C. brachyrhynchos
• Chihuahuan Raven C. cryptoleucos
• Common Raven C. corax
• Fish Crow C. ossifragus
• Northwestern Crow C. caurinus
• Tamaulipas Crow C. imparatus
• Sinaloan Crow C. sinaloae

African species:

• Cape Crow C. capensis
• Fan-tailed Raven C. rhipidurus
• Pied Crow C. albus
• Thick-billed Raven C. crassirostris
• White-necked Raven C. albicollis

North African & Asia Minor species:

• Brown-necked Raven C. ruficollis
• Hooded Crow C. cornix
• Common Raven C. corax
• Fan-tailed Raven C. rhipidurus

European species:

• Carrion Crow C. corone
• Common Raven C. corax
• Hooded Crow C. cornix
• Jackdaw C. monedula
• Rook C. frugilegus

Asian species:

• Carrion Crow C. corone
• Collared Crow C. torquatus
• Daurian Jackdaw C. dauricus
• House Crow C. splendens
• Jungle Crow C. macrorhynchos
• Rook C. frugilegus

The islands between Southeast Asia and Australia have several species, as do the West Indies off the east coast of the North American continent. A few Pacific islands have species including the following two well known forms:

• Hawaiian Crow or 'Alala' C. hawaiiensis (formerly C. tropicus)
• New Caledonian crow C. moneduloides

For more information regarding crows, see the individual species. For more information regarding relatives of the crows, such as magpies and jays, see Corvidae.

Full species list of genus Corvus

• Eurasian Jackdaw, Corvus monedula
• Daurian Jackdaw, Corvus dauricus
• House Crow, Corvus splendens
• New Caledonian Crow, Corvus moneduloides
• Slender-billed Crow, Corvus enca
• Piping Crow, Corvus typicus
• Banggai Crow, Corvus unicolor
• Flores Crow, Corvus florensis
• Mariana Crow, Corvus kubaryi
• Long-billed Crow, Corvus validus
• Guadalcanal Crow, Corvus woodfordi
• Bougainville Crow, Corvus meeki
• Brown-headed Crow, Corvus fuscicapillus
• Gray Crow, Corvus tristis
• Cape Crow, Corvus capensis
• Rook, Corvus frugilegus
• American Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos
• Northwestern Crow, Corvus caurinus
• Cuban Palm Crow, Corvus minutus
• Hispaniolan Palm Crow, Corvus palmarum
• Cuban Crow, Corvus nasicus
• White-necked Crow, Corvus leucognaphalus
• Jamaican Crow, Corvus jamaicensis
• Tamaulipas Crow, Corvus imparatus
• Sinaloa Crow, Corvus sinaloae
• Fish Crow, Corvus ossifragus
• Hawaiian Crow, Corvus hawaiiensis
• Chihuahuan Raven, Corvus cryptoleucus
• Carrion Crow, Corvus corone
• Large-billed Crow, Corvus macrorhynchos
• Torresian Crow, Corvus orru
• Little Crow, Corvus bennetti
• Australian Raven, Corvus coronoides
• Little Raven, Corvus mellori
• Forest Raven, Corvus tasmanicus
• Collared Crow, Corvus torquatus
• Pied Crow, Corvus albus
• Brown-necked Raven, Corvus ruficollis
• Fan-tailed Raven, Corvus rhipidurus
• White-necked Raven, Corvus albicollis
• Thick-billed Raven, Corvus crassirostris
• Common Raven Corvus corax

---

See also Banishing crows from a field

---

The constellation Corvus represents a crow.