Most Passerine Birds sing beautifully. So it is amazing that the Crow family also belongs to the Passerine Birds: the sounds they utter vary from awful to horrible. The Carrion Crow is a very large, black Passerine bird. In our garden we see Carrion Crows exclusively.
The Carrion Crow (or Black Crow) occupies the western parts of Europe, while the Hooded Crow occupies the eastern part. The border between the two species runs somewhere over central Europe. In Holland the Hooded Crow is a rarity, but in Poland the Carrion Crow is. Hooded Crows also replace Carrion Crows in Scandinavia, Northern Scotland, Ireland and Italy. The two Crows easily make up pairs. In my garden sometimes the Carrion Crow walks about a bit. It's not a forest bird, preferring open spaces, meadows and farmland. In winter they do sometimes form small flocks, but normally you just see a pair of them. Pairs remain together all their lives.
This bird belongs to the family of Crows (Corvidae). In our garden it is a very rare bird, but in Holland it can be seen all year round. The bird is 19" and weighs 550 grams. It lives in farmland, woodland, coasts and parks mostly. It eats almost everything. The sexes do not differ from one another. It is not easy to tell the Crow apart from its close relative the Rook. The bills are different though: the Crows is black and the Rooks is light. The Rook also has some weird feathers near the legs, wgich give the impression the animal is wearing a pair of trousers. Crows make their nest in trees from March to June. She lays a very varying number of eggs, usually between three and eight. The chicks hatch after only 18 days, but they remain in the nest for some 32 days.
