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Corvus splendens
Spotted here in Zanzibar, the house crow is a medium size corvid with a glossy blackish forehead, crown, throat and upper breast, and lighter grayish-bluish neck and breast. A highly invasive species originally native to South Asia, it has been spread out through shipping.
Associated with human settlements. Spotted here in Stonetown on a plumeria tree near the beach.
Although I loved watching the house crows’ antics there, it seems that they have unfortunately displaced many of the local birds in and around Stonetown. These birds arrived in Zanzibar at the end of the 19th century.
Spotted on Aug 8, 2011
Submitted on Nov 9, 2011
18 Comments
Right Honor for Right Organism... These poor Crows are God for Humans.... today... Without them we can not survive on this planet... Congrats Daniele...
Congratulations Daniele, this spotting is featured in the Project Noah blog! http://blog.projectnoah.org/post/3133882...
Thanks for your comment annmarie. I hope we will get to see some of your own spottings from Zanzibar!
I am from Zanzibar... at one point in time these birds became such a nuisance that traps were made around the island to capture and kill them. I personally am not found of them because they snatch my baby chicks.
I know ctsetan, they are remarkably...human!
I think it is their intelligence accompanied by their naughty mentality which bothers us. I think it poops on humans intentionally. :)
Thanks you bong.ambutong!
Nice capture on this spotting Daniele....
The ones I saw both in Zanzibar and on the Tanzanian coastline were quite pale... this also one showed nice bluish hues in the sun.
I've never seen one this bright before, almost the colour of some Rollers! Some of the sub-species in NW India are said to be much paler than their SE Asian cousins so perhaps they spread from that area, its not too far by land or sea.
A very beautiful bird, but sad to hear it is an invasive species now! I've seen magpies harass owls and kestrels before, so it wouldn't surprise me if these guys did too. Still, a wonderful photo Daniele!
Yes, they are aggressive, just as the article rightly mentioned: Crows at least seem a lot like human beings? We humans have done a lot of damage to the earth, its ecosystem and to other species as well. Exterminated quite a few in fact.
That's interesting Satyen... They are indeed extraordinarily aggressive towards other species, and not only birds!
I guess every word of the article is true. My son made me read an article some time back. It said that owls can see in the day but they do not come out in the open because they don't want to be bothered by other birds like "crows".
So I hear Satyen, quite a problem in India... You may be interested to read this:
http://nitawriter.wordpress.com/2009/05/...
Lost a great deal of small birds of our area due to them.
Thanks for your comment Ashish!
Best Urban scavenger....