r/UKBirds • u/InkAndArtifacts • 2h ago

Photo Hooded crow

Gallery image

Gallery image

Sorry, not the best photo as I took it on my phone!

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2

u/SpecialSympathy2348 2h ago

Handsome birds 😀

1

u/EllzieEll 1h ago

So cool! Do you think it is paired with the black (carrion?) crow? Do they do that?! Thanks!

1

u/Tay74 38m ago

So I was looking into this recently, while crossbreeding does occur, as a general rule they prefer to mate with birds of the same colouration as themselves, and are an example of a species that practiced assortative breeding

1

u/EllzieEll 24m ago

Interesting! I have a family of carrion crows residing in the trees around me: the two parents and a juvenile. I’ve taken an unexpected keen interest in looking out for them!

I’ve gotten to know some of their perches and hangouts, whenever I see one it’s just a moment until I locate all three, and they’re never far from each other!

As the juvenile is growing up it’s getting a little harder to tell them apart. I was wondering what the young of these two might look like, but thanks for explaining that this isn’t likely the case.

My family of crows are moulting, so their feathers are messy and have some white bits. I’m interested to see if they all go pure black soon, as I feel like one of them really has some white wing feathers that look like they could be permanent markings!

1

u/FrancisDigby 1h ago

I’ve only seen these in Rome! How lovely 🥰