Alpine Chough

The Alpine Chough is a sleek, all-black corvid adapted to some of the highest terrain used by any bird, found in mountain ranges from the Alps and Pyrenees through the Middle East and into the Himalayas. It is closely related to the Red-billed Chough but is generally found at higher elevations and has a shorter, yellow bill rather than a long red one. It is a familiar and bold bird around mountain refuges and ski resorts.

Plumage is uniformly glossy black with a slight greenish sheen, similar in tone to the Red-billed Chough but the body appears slightly more compact. Flight feathers are long and the wings appear more pointed and swept-back in flight compared to the broader-winged Red-billed Chough. The tail is black and slightly rounded. The combination of all-black glossy feathering with a short yellow bill (not a feather trait but a confirming field mark) distinguishes it from its red-billed relative.

Sexes look alike, with uniform glossy black plumage year-round in adults. Juveniles are duller sooty black with a paler, less vivid yellow bill and less red on the legs, brightening as the bird matures. A single annual molt follows the breeding season.

Alpine Choughs favor high mountain crags, alpine meadows, and rocky slopes, often well above treeline, across mountain ranges of southern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Central and South Asia including the Himalayas. Most populations make only local altitudinal movements, descending to lower slopes in severe winter weather.

This species forages on high pastures and rocky ground for invertebrates and readily scavenges scraps around mountain huts, refuges, and tourist sites at high altitude. It flies with agile, buoyant maneuvers, often in large flocks that wheel and tumble over cliffs and peaks. Calls include a high, whistled "sreee" distinct from the harsher call of the Red-billed Chough. Nests are built in crevices high on cliff faces, often in colonies.