The hooded crow (Corvus corone cornix), also colloquially called just hoodie, is a Eurasian bird subspecies of the carrion crow (Corvus corone) in the genus Corvus. Widely distributed, it is found across Northern, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, as well as parts of the Middle East. It is an ashy-grey bird with black head, throat, wings, tail, and thigh feathers, as well as a black bill, eyes, and feet. Like other corvids, it is an omnivorous and opportunistic forager and feeder.

In 2002, the hooded crow was separated from the carrion crow and classified as its own species by the British Ornithologists' Union. However, in 2025, the new global AviBase re-classified the hooded and carrion crows as the same species, with the species divided into six subspecies, of which four are 'hooded' grey-and-black, and two are all-black.

Taxonomy

The hooded crow was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae; he gave it the binomial name Corvus cornix. Linnaeus specified the type locality as "Europa", but this was restricted to Sweden by the German ornithologist Ernst Hartert in 1903. The genus name Corvus is Latin for "raven" while the specific epithet cornix, and the current corone, are Latin for "crow".

Etymology

The name hooded crow, first known from Scotland in the early 16th century, It is locally known as a 'hoodie craw' or simply 'hoodie' in Scotland and as a grey crow in Northern Ireland. Its status as a scarce winter visitor from Scandinavia in eastern England has led to a number of historical local names, including "Coatham crow" (from Coatham in North Yorkshire),

Subspecies

left|thumb|Corvus corone capellanus, Baghdad, Iraq

Four subspecies of hooded crow were accepted; A fifth subspecies, C. c. sardonius (Kleinschmidt, 1903) has been listed,

  • C. c. sharpii Oates, 1889 – named after the English zoologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe. This is a paler grey form found from western Siberia through to the Caucasus region and Iran. Some authors also include all the southern European hooded crow populations (including Corsica and all of Italy) in this subspecies.
  • C. c. pallescens (Madarász, 1904) – the smallest subspecies, described from Cyprus and also found in southern Turkey through the Levant to Egypt, and, as its name suggests, is paler than C. c. cornix.

Genetic difference from carrion crows

thumb|right| 250 px|A map of Europe indicating the distribution of the [[Carrion crow|carrion and hooded crows on either side of a contact zone (white line) separating the two species]]

The hooded crow (Corvus cornix) and carrion crow (Corvus corone) are two closely related species whose geographical distribution across Europe is illustrated in the accompanying diagram. It is believed that this distribution might have resulted from the glaciation cycles during the Pleistocene, which caused the parent population to split into isolates which subsequently re-expanded their ranges when the climate warmed causing secondary contact. Jelmer Poelstra and coworkers sequenced almost the entire genomes of both species in populations at varying distances from the contact zone to find that the two species were nearly genetically identical, both in their DNA and in its expression (in the form of mRNA), except for the lack of expression of a small portion (<0.28%) of the genome (situated on avian chromosome 18) in the hooded crow, which imparts the lighter plumage colouration on its torso.

Distribution

thumb|A group of hooded crows in [[Tehran, Iran]]

thumb|[[Leucism|Leucistic hooded crow, in Russia]]

The hooded crow breeds in northern and eastern Europe, and closely allied forms inhabit southern Europe and western Asia. Fertile hybrids are produced where its range meets with that of the carrion crow, as in northern Britain, Germany, Denmark, northern Italy, and Siberia. However, the hybrids are less well-adapted than purebred birds and the hybrid zone remains consistently narrow; this was one of the main reasons behind its reclassification as a distinct species from the carrion crow.

In the British Isles, the hooded crow breeds regularly in northern and western Scotland, the Isle of Man, and the Scottish Islands; it also breeds throughout Ireland. In autumn, some migratory birds arrive on the east coast of Britain. In the past, this was a more common visitor.

Behaviour

Diet

thumb|left|Hooded crow searching a [[rain gutter, probably for food, in Berlin]]

thumb|The hooded crow is a typical [[omnivore]]

thumb|Hooded crow feeding on the flesh of another bird

The hooded crow is omnivorous, with a diet similar to that of the carrion crow, and is a constant scavenger. It drops molluscs and crabs to break them after the manner of the carrion crow, to the point that an old Scottish name for empty sea urchin shells was "crow's cups".

Nesting

Nesting occurs later in colder regions; mid-May to mid-June in northwest Russia, Shetland, and the Faroe Islands, and late February in the Persian Gulf region. The bulky stick nest is normally placed in a tall tree, but cliff ledges, old buildings, and pylons may be used. Nests are occasionally placed on or near the ground. The nest resembles that of the carrion crow, but on the coast, seaweed is often interwoven in the structure, and animal bones and wire are also frequently incorporated.

The typical lifespan is unknown, but that of the carrion crow is four years. The maximum recorded age for a hooded crow is 16 years, and 9 months.

This species, like its relative, is regularly killed by farmers and on grouse estates. In County Cork, Ireland, the county's gun clubs shot over 23,000 hooded crows in two years in the early 1980s.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="220">

File:Corvus corone cornix MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.175.4.jpg|Eggs of Corvus corone cornix - MHNT

File:Crow Nest Moscow.jpg|Nest with eggs in urban environment, Moscow

File:Crow babies 10 days old.jpg|Ten-day-old chicks

File:Kråka - Corvus cornix.jpg|Juvenile hooded crows in Sweden

</gallery>

Status

The IUCN Red List does not distinguish the hooded crow from the carrion crow, but the two species together have an extensive range, estimated at , and a large population, including an estimated 14 to 34 million individuals in Europe alone. They are not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e., declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations), so are evaluated as least concern. The carrion crow and hooded crow hybrid zone is slowly spreading northwest, but the hooded crow has on the order of three million territories in just Europe (excluding Russia). This movement is also attested to by the fact that in April 2020 the hooded crow was redlisted in Sweden, where the Species Information Centre does distinguish between hooded and carrion crow.

Cultural significance

In Irish folklore, the bird appears on the shoulder of the dying Cú Chulainn, and could also be a manifestation of the Morrígan, the wife of Tethra, or the Cailleach. This idea has persisted, and the hooded crow is associated with fairies in the Scottish highlands and Ireland; in the 18th century, Scottish shepherds would make offerings to them to keep them from attacking sheep. In Faroese folklore, a maiden would go out on Candlemas morn and throw a stone, then a bone, then a clump of turf at a hooded crow – if it flew over the sea, her husband would be a foreigner; if it landed on a farm or house, she would marry a man from there, but if it stayed put, she would remain unmarried.

The old name of Royston crow originates from the days when this bird was a common winter visitor to southern England, with the sheep fields around Royston, Hertfordshire providing carcasses on which the birds could feed. The local newspaper, founded in 1855, is called The Royston Crow,

The hooded crow is one of the 37 Norwegian birds depicted in the Bird Room of the Royal Palace in Oslo.

References

  • Cyberbirding: hooded crow pictures
  • Skull of hooded crow (without beak sheath)
  • Video of wild hooded crow in Warsaw trying to imitate human speech
  • Educational article with video about Hooded Crow