Corvids in Spain - plenty to crow about
FOR anyone accustomed to the birdlife of the British Isles, the status and relative abundance of the various members of the crow family in Spain must seem distinctly odd, especially if they have come to reside on the Costa Blanca, where red-billed chough probably competes with jackdaw for being the most numerous representative (excluding magpies!).
So let’s take a look at the family as a whole. The rook, that common resident of just about every English village, is easily dealt with. Currently, 1,720 pairs inhabit colonies in the southeast of Leon province, and just eight more pairs are to be found in the town of Figueras, in Girona.
The species is regarded as ‘in danger of extinction’ in Spain. Carrion crows, virtually absent from our coastal region, are increasingly numerous as you venture west, onto the agricultural plains of the interior.
One or two pairs do occasionally breed in the Vega Baja. Jackdaws are a common sight wherever suitable old buildings, bridges, nest-boxes and the like give scope for a colony, and colonial too is the red-billed chough – flocks of over 200 can sometimes be seen in the winter months, close to our mountains.
The closely-related yellowbilled chough is largely restricted to the Pyrenees and other northern ranges, though the odd bird has been seen in the far south, having crossed from Morocco’s Atlas.
Ravens are generally less colonial, but their familiar croak can be heard frequently just about anywhere in our mountainous
interior, or even on seacliffs.
The hooded crow has now nested in the Barcelona area, and odd individuals turn up just about anywhere.
This brings me to the magpie – that pestilential (very successful) invader that raids the nests of small birds, but will eat almost anything.
I have watched the local magpie population increase enormously in recent years, and it has now become a very common sight.
The azure-winged magpie, whose odd distribution is limited to the southwest of Iberia and the far east of Asia, has somehow established a thriving colony near Torrevieja – how that came about, I have no idea. The jay is the only species I haven’t mentioned – not uncommon, they are patchily distributed – most easily found in high country where there are oak trees. So there, plenty to crow about!