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The large-billed raven is distinguished by the size of its beak, which is disproportionately large. The plumage located on the head of this bird, its wings and its tail are painted black with a characteristic green and purple tint. The bird has a wedge-shaped tail, there is no beard on its throat, which distinguishes the nearest relatives of this crow.
The size of the representative of this species does not have clear limits, they can be from 46 to 59 centimeters, the approximate weight of an adult reaches 1.3 kilograms. Large-billed ravens living in northern regions, as a rule, are larger than representatives of the southern region. The difference is noticeable in the size of the beak, and in the structure of the plumage, located under the beak of the bird.
In total there are 15 subspecies representing this bird. For example, the Indian representative is called the jungle crow, which is referred to as a sedentary-roaming group of birds.This subspecies is able to inhabit the mountainous area at an altitude of 5800 meters above sea level.
Habitats
Representatives of this species of birds prefer to settle in forests, river lengths and on the sea coasts, choosing anthropogenic landscapes for their nesting. Mostly these crows are sedentary, making only small flights. They calmly transfer the presence of people, arranging their settlements near settlements, sometimes gathering in fairly large flocks.
Nesting features
The breeding season of the big-faced crow starts in the second half of February and continues until the end of March. During the nesting period, these birds do not adhere to the rule to keep large colonies, on the contrary - they prefer to settle in pairs apart from each other. They form permanent couples that continue their relationship on the continuation of the whole bird life.
The period of nest building in these birds begins at the end of March and may continue until the end of April, they prefer to arrange their home in the trees. These crows use dry branches and grass stems as building materials for nesting the device; sometimes fragments of bast fibers and various roots can be interwoven. Birds use feathers, wool, and sometimes various rags, which they managed to pick up.
The cross-section of the crow's nest is from 50 to 55 centimeters, and its height reaches 30 centimeters. The laying of big-eyed crows can be from 3 to 6 eggs, the dimensions of which consist of 46.5 millimeters of length and 31.5 millimeters of width. The eggs of these crows are painted multi-format. They may have a gray-greenish or green color of the main background, covered with various patches of brown color, formed in the form of smears or inclusions.
The incubation period for the laying of a large-billed crow can last from 20 to 21 days. After that the chicks are born. This usually happens from the end of April to mid-May. In June, the young chicks begin to leave their nests, although they continue to remain under the auspices of their parents, which can last from one to several months. The birds are very attached to each other and part reluctantly.
Features of the diet
These amazing birds are almost omnivorous, they can eat anything that they can pick up. Any fruits and berries growing on trees, bushes or in the grass, the crow eats without thinking. Small animals, whether rodents or amphibians, caught in the field of view of these crows, will not remain without attention. If a big-eyed raven meets carrion, in the form of the corpses of any animals, she, too, will not hesitate and satisfy her hunger. In addition, the entrance will easily go all sorts of nuts, young shoots of plants and even roots, especially if it is root.
In its absence of fear of man, the crows sometimes reach arrogant deeds.There are cases when they attack poultry and even cats. In Japan, ravens are considered to be pests because they scatter garbage from trash bags in search of food. And it is not rare that they are able to steal something to insulate or decorate their nest.
Interesting information
In fact, the big-eyed ravens are excellent and fairly committed friends. They very often come to the aid of each other, except that they do not leave patients unattended, and can even feed them up to the ability to fly on their own.
In case the crow cannot cope with any task with a beak, she will always use tools. For example, if she does not manage to get a worm, she will extract it with a stick. To chop a nut, these birds often throw it on the track, under the wheels of cars, and then easily eat its contents.The crow will never hollow a dried crust of bread; she knows for sure that the rusks soften well in water.
Surprisingly, ravens have an excellent ability to do instant calculus. Experimental crow several times offered two feeders, where the amount of food differed only by one, for example, 14 and 15, the bird was always unmistakable, first visited the one on which it was more, moreover, it made its calculations instantly.
Video: big-billed crow (Corvus macrorhynchos)
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