Alpine Chough

Notes:

As we were climbing on to the glacier Blange in the south of France, we were surrounded by these funny birds. It is very hard to take a clear shot of them as they drop from the sky and balance on the thermalling. Predators of the choughs include the Peregrine Falcon, Golden Eagle and Eurasian Eagle-owl, while the Common Raven will take nestlings. Alpine Choughs have been observed diving at a Tibetan red fox. It seems likely that this "mobbing" behaviour may be play activity to give practice for when genuine defensive measures may be needed to protect eggs or young.