Bird watching in Africa - Fan-tailed Raven

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Birdwatching in Africa - Fan-tailed Raven, Corvus rhipidurus

The Fan-tailed Raven (Corvus rhipidurus) is a passerine bird of the crow family native to Eastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Like the Forest raven, Little raven, Australian raven and Chihuahuan raven, it is one of the smaller raven species.

The larger species of raven are the Common raven, Thick-billed raven, White-necked raven and Brown-necked raven with the Common and Thick-billed ravens being the world's largest raven species and the Little and Fan-tailed ravens being the smallest, in fact it is about the same size or slightly larger than the carrion crow (47–51 cm) but with a much thicker bill, shorter tail and much larger wings.

Distribution and habitat
It occurs in the Middle East, North Africa, Arabia, and south to Sudan and Kenya. It also ranges across the Aïr Massif in the southern Sahara. It lives in desert or open dry country that includes crags for nesting. It is one of the most aerial of birds traveling huge distances in search of food, its large wings being adapted to gliding on thermals in a rather vulture-like way.

Range map from www.oiseaux.net - Ornithological Portal Oiseaux.net

www.oiseaux.net is one of those MUST visit pages if you're in to bird watching. You can find just about everything there

Description
The fan-tailed raven is completely black including bill, legs and feet and the plumage has a purplish-blue gloss in good light. Worn plumage is slightly coppery-brown. The base of the feathers on the upper neck are white and only seen if the bird is inspected or a strong gust blows them the wrong way. The throat hackles are shorter than in most other ravens.

The voice is described as guttural croaks mixed with the sound of frog-call. Like all Corvids, the Fan-tailed raven is capable of vocal mimicry, however this behavior is mostly recorded in captivity and, very rarely, in the wild.

Length:

47–51 cm

Wingspan:

102 - 120 cm.

Weight:

340 - 550 g

Longevity:

Distinctive Feature

•

Similar Species

• Brown-necked Raven and Ethiopian Raven both easily distinguished by their longer tails and narrower wings. Thick-billed Raven likewise, and also markedly larger and heavier-billed. Common Raven does not overlap with Fan-tailed Raven.

From opus at www.birdforum.net the forum for wild birds and birding.

Listen to the Fan-tailed Raven

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my ZOOM H5. High Pass Filter with Audacity applied.

I want to record a call but I get wing flaps. The bird is craxing on the top of my hut. But when I come close with my recorder on the bird takes off

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my ZOOM H5 Handy recorder.

Some wind noise as I am sitting on a cliff edge 100m ++ watching for vultures at Ethio-German Park at Debre Libanos.

Behaviour

Diet
Food is invariably taken on the ground and includes all manner of insects and other invertebrates, grain taken from animal dung, carrion and scraps of human food. It has also been seen taking skin parasites from camels and, where not persecuted, scavenges around rubbish dumps and camp sites.

Fruits of all types are eaten readily. It soars and plays in thermals even more so than other raven species and often associates with the brown-necked raven roosting in the same tree as it.

Nesting
This species nests on rock ledges and in cavities in cliffs though very rarely in Somalia it has been known to nest in trees. There are usually 2–4 eggs laid. The great-spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) sometimes uses this species as a brood host.

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia