The brown-headed crow (''Corvus fuscicapillus'') is a

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

bird of the genus ''

Corvus ''Corvus'' is a widely distributed genus of medium-sized to large birds in the family Corvidae. It includes species commonly known as crows, ravens and Rook (bird), rooks. The species commonly encountered in Europe are the carrion crow, the hoo ...

'' in the family

Corvidae Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers. In colloquial English, they are known as the crow family or corvids. Currently, 13 ...

Endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, it has a fragmented distribution in

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...

and subtropical or tropical

mangrove forest Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fr ...

. It is threatened by

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

and the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has rated it as being "

near-threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

Description

The brown-headed crow grows to a total length of about including a tail. It has the typical glossy purplish-black plumage of many of the crow genus apart from the head and neck which are a dark brownish-black. The tail has a squared-off end. The massive beak is compressed and has a high arch, being black in males and reddish or yellowish-white with a black tip in females and juveniles. The legs are black and the face is well-feathered. The nasal bristles are distinctly parted and the throat feathers are bristly. The call is a harsh caw, either in brief, two-syllable utterances or as longer, drawn-out sounds.

Distribution and habitat

The species is endemic to eastern Indonesia; it has a fragmented range, perhaps because it has some, as yet unknown, specialised habitat requirement. It is present in northern Papua in the lower part of the Mamberamo River Valley and in the Nimbokrang region, near

Jayapura Jayapura (formerly Dutch: ''Hollandia'') is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of Papua. It is situated on the northern coast of New Guinea island and covers an area of . The city borders the Pacific Ocean and Yos Sudarso ...

. Also on the islands of

Waigeo Waigeo is an island in Southwest Papua province of eastern Indonesia. The island is also known as Amberi, or Waigiu. It is the largest of the four main islands in the Raja Ampat Islands Raja Ampat, or the ''Four Kings'', is an archipelago loc ...

and Gemien in western Papua, and Nimbokrang and the

Aru Islands The Aru Islands Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru) is a group of about 95 low-lying islands in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It also forms a regency of Maluku Province, with a land area of . At the 2011 Census the Regency had a po ...

Maluku province Maluku is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It comprises the central and southern regions of the Maluku Islands. The main city and capital of Maluku province is Ambon, Maluku, Ambon on the small Ambon Island. The land area is 62, ...

. Its habitat is primarily virgin forest but it also inhabits secondary growth and

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

areas, but generally avoids open countryside and the coast. Its altitudinal range is up to about .

Ecology

This crow moves through the canopy either in pairs or alone, or occasionally in a group of a few birds. It feeds on fruit which it gathers from among the foliage.

Status

''C. fuscicapillus'' is an uncommon species with a limited, fragmented range. Its total area of occupancy is estimated to be about and the total population may be between 15,000 and 30,000 birds. The main threats it faces are

through logging and mining, and a planned dam across the Mamberamo River. However some of its range is within protected areas, and in some parts the forest remains untouched. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed its conservation status as being "

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1586668

brown-headed crow The brown-headed crow (''Corvus fuscicapillus'') is a passerine bird of the genus ''Corvus'' in the family Corvidae. Endemic to Indonesia, it has a fragmented distribution in subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropica ...

Birds of the Aru Islands Birds of Western New Guinea

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot