The little crow (''Corvus bennetti'') is an Australian species of

crow A crow is a bird of the genus '' Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifica ...

, very similar to the

Torresian crow The Torresian crow (''Corvus orru''), also called the Australian crow or Papuan crow, is a passerine bird in the crow family native to the north and west of Australia and nearby islands in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The species has a bla ...

in having white bases to the neck and head feathers (shown when ruffled in strong wind) but slightly smaller (38–45 cm in length) and with a slightly smaller bill. It has the same white iris that distinguish the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

n species from all other ''Corvus'' except a few island species to the north of Australia, and one from

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelag ...

, the

jackdaw Jackdaws are two species of bird in the genus ''Coloeus'' closely related to, but generally smaller than, the crows and ravens (''Corvus''). ''Coloeus'' is sometimes treated as a subgenus of ''Corvus'', including by the IUCN.Madge & Burn (1994) ...

(''Corvus monedula''). Like the

Australian raven The Australian raven (''Corvus coronoides'') is a passerine bird in the genus '' Corvus'' native to much of southern and northeastern Australia. Measuring in length, it has all-black plumage, beak and mouth, as well as strong grey-black legs an ...

, this species has a blue ring around the pupil.

Distribution and habitat

It ranges over western and central Australia, often inhabiting very dry, near desert areas. It frequents small country towns and cultivated areas, where its flocks have reminded people of the European rook.

Etymology

''C. bennetti'' was named in honour of the New South Wales ornithologist and collector of natural history specimens, Kenric Harold Bennett.

Behaviour

Diet

Its food is mainly taken from the ground and includes

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pa ...

cereal A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food ...

s and other seeds. It is less of a scavenger than the

Nesting

It usually nests in small, loose colonies, building stick nests lined with mud (the only Australian species of Corvid known to do this).

Call

The little crow's calls range from a harsh ''hark-hark-hark-hark'' to a more raven-like ''ah-ah-ah''.

Image links

Little Crow 1

Little Crow 2

Little crow series

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1299703 little crow little crow Endemic birds of Australia little crow little crow