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Corvids

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior
  • 75 Accesses

Synonyms

The crow family

Definition

A corvid is a member of the passerine bird family Corvidae, which includes crows, magpies, ravens, jays, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers.

Introduction

The Corvidae family includes approximately 125 species and is part of a bigger group of more than 700 oscine passerine species, called Corvoidea, which, for example, includes birds of paradise and shrikes. Corvoidea originated in the area of Papua New Guinea and colonized the rest of the world during the mid-tertiary, 25–40 million years ago (Jønsson et al. 2011). Today, corvid species are distributed worldwide except the southern tip of South America and the polar ice caps. They inhabit harsh environments such as mountainous regions, but also thrive in urban areas. Corvids are of broad significance for behavioral and ornithological research not only because of their ability to adapt to diverse habitats but also because of their great variability and flexibility in their social system. Corvids are...

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Correspondence to Claudia A. F. Wascher .

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Wascher, C.A.F. (2022). Corvids. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55065-7_1799

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