Alpine Chough (redirected from Pyrrhocorax graculus)

Alpine Chough 

(Pyrrhocorax graculus), a bird of the Corvidae family of the order Passeriformes. The bird weighs between 160 and 180 g. Its bill is yellow and slightly curved, its legs are red, and its plumage is smooth and glossy black. The Alpine chough inhabits the alpine zone of the mountain ranges of southern Europe, Middle Asia, and Central Asia. In the USSR it is found in the mountains of the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Altai, and Tarbagatai. In the winter it migrates from the peaks of the mountains to the foothills. The birds nest in colonies and build their nests in rock clefts and on cornices. In April and May, four or five greenish eggs with dark variegated patterns are laid. The bird’s food consists of various insects, worms, and plant seeds.

REFERENCE

Ptitsy Sovetskogo Soiuza, vol. 5. Edited by G. P. Dement’ev and N. A. Gladkov. Moscow, 1954. Pages 101–104.