Hooded crow

Corvus cornix

Group: Upland birds
Size class: Small (under 10 kg)
Family: Corvidae

Range

Europe
Asia

Habitat

Farmland
Coast

Range

Countries it is found in

67 countries

Afghanistan
Åland Islands
Albania
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bulgaria
China
Croatia
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
Egypt
Estonia
Faroe Islands
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary

Range from:Wikipedia country bird lists, GBIF occurrence records — read 2026-08-05

Chapter 01

Overview

The hooded crow (Corvus corone cornix), the 'hoodie', is a Eurasian subspecies of the carrion crow. It is widely distributed across northern, eastern and south-eastern Europe and parts of the Middle East. Linnaeus described it in 1758 as Corvus cornix, with 'Europa' as the type locality, restricted to Sweden by Ernst Hartert in 1903. Four subspecies were accepted; as before 2002, all are now treated as subspecies of Corvus corone.

Chapter 02

Identification

An ashy-grey bird with black head, throat, wings, tail and thigh feathers, and a black bill, eye and legs. Except for those black parts, which are mostly glossy, the plumage is ash-grey with dark feather shafts giving it a streaky look. The iris is dark brown. Only one moult occurs annually, in autumn, as in other crows. Males tend to be larger than females, but the sexes are otherwise alike.

Chapter 03

Behaviour

The hooded crow is omnivorous and a constant scavenger, with a diet much like the carrion crow's. It drops molluscs and crabs from height to break them open — a habit so familiar that an old Scottish name for empty sea urchin shells was 'crow's cups'. On coastal cliffs it steals the eggs of gulls, cormorants and other birds while the owners are away.

Field data

Tracks

A photograph of real sign left by Hooded crow. Prints vary with gait, ground and how long they have been there — treat this as one example, not a template.

Track photo:Kate Senatskaya CC BY

Sources

Sources: Hooded crow — Wikipedia — read 2026-08-05

Cross-reference