Corvus

Australian raven Corvus coronoides, photographed by Gary.

Belongs within: Corvidae.

The crows of the genus Corvus are large, predominantly black passerine birds. Crows are mostly generalist feeders, and are found in most parts of the world. The largest species (and the largest-bodied of all passerine birds) is the raven Corvus corax, which is found scattered throughout the Palaearctic region. The phylogenetic analysis by Burleigh et al. (2015) also suggests that the nutcrackers Nucifraga are placed within the Corvus clade; these are two species found in the Holarctic region, patterned in contrasting dark and pale colours, with relatively long, slender and pointed bills. Their diet contains a high proportion of conifer seeds, which they also sequester in caches.

<==Corvus Linnaeus 1758 G03 (see below for synonymy)
    |--+--+--C. dauuricus BKB15
    |  |  `--C. monedula Linnaeus 1758 JT12, M02 (see below for synonymy)
    |  `--Nucifraga Brisson 1760 BKB15, M02 [Nucifragidae]
    |       |--N. caryocatactes (Linnaeus 1758) [=Corvus caryocatactes] M02
    |       `--N. columbiana BKB15
    `--+--+--C. frugilegus Linnaeus 1758 BKB15, R85
       |  |    |--C. f. frugilegus VP89
       |  |    `--C. f. pastinator VP89
       |  `--C. hawaiiensis JT12
       `--+--C. ossifragus BKB15
          `--+--+--+--C. brachyrhynchos BKB15
             |  |  `--C. caurinus JT12
             |  `--+--C. cornix BKB15 [=C. corone cornix FP64]
             |      `--C. corone Linnaeus 1758 BKB15, M02 (see below for synonymy)
             `--+--+--C. albicollis BKB15
                |  `--+--C. albus JT12
                |     `--+--*C. corax Linnaeus 1758 G03, JT12, M02 (see below for synonymy)
                |        `--C. cryptoleucus JT12
                `--+--+--C. kubaryi JT12
                   |  |--C. macrorhynchos JT12
                   |  `--C. splendens BKB15
                   |       |--C. s. splendens L81
                   |       |--C. s. insolens L81
                   |       `--C. s. protegatus L81
                   `--+--+--C. nasicus JT12
                      |  `--C. orru JT12
                      `--+--C. coronoides Vigors & Horsfield 1827 JT12, WS48 (see below for synonymy)
                         `--+--C. moriorum Forbes 1892 [=*Palaeocorax moriorum] G03
                            `--C. antipodum (Forbes 1893) [=Palaeocorax antipodum, C. moriorum antipodum] G03
                                 |--C. a. antipodum G03
                                 `--C. a. pycrafti Gill 2003 G03

Corvus incertae sedis:
  C. bennetti North 1901 [incl. C. bennetti bonhoti Mathews 1912, C. cecilae marngli Mathews 1912] WS48
  C. cafer Scl66
  C. capensis JT12
  C. cecilae Mathews 1912 WS48 (see below for synonymy)
  C. crassirostris Rüppell 1836 S05
  C. culminatus B66
  C. edithae JT12
  C. enca JT12
  C. florensis JT12
  C. fuscicapillus JT12
  C. hungaricus Lambrecht 1916 M02
  C. imparatus JT12
  C. jamaicensis JT12
  C. larteti (Milne-Edwards 1871) JM14, M02 [=*Miocorvus larteti M02]
  C. leucognaphalus SWK87
  C. levaillantii JT12
  C. meeki JT12
  C. mellori G03
  C. minutus JT12 [=C. palmarum minutus MS55]
  C. moneduloides G03
  C. palmarum MS55
  C. pumilis SWK87
  C. rhipidurus JT12
  C. ruficollis JT12
  C. scapulatus [incl. C. madagascariensis] Sch66
  C. sinaloae JT12
  C. tasmanicus M03
    |--C. t. tasmanicus M03
    `--C. t. boreus M03
  C. torquatus VP89
  C. tristis JT12
  C. tropicus FP64
  C. typicus JT12
  C. unicolor HSS13
  C. validus JT12
  C. woodfordi JT12

Corvus Linnaeus 1758 G03 [incl. Gymnocorvus Lesson 1831 B94, Miocorax Lambrecht 1933 M02, Miocorvus Lambrecht 1933 M02, Palaeocorax Forbes in Anon. 1892 G03, Trypanocorax Bonaparte 1854 B94; Gymnocorvidae, Trypanocoracidae]

Corvus cecilae Mathews 1912 WS48 [=C. coronoides cecilae WS48, C. orru cecilae M03; incl. C. cecilae hartogi Mathews 1920 WS48, C. cecilae probleema Mathews 1923 WS48]

*Corvus corax Linnaeus 1758 G03, JT12, M02 [incl. C. corax antecorax Mourer-Chauviré 1975 M02, C. fossilis Giebel 1847 M02, C. pliocaenus janossyi Mourer-Chauviré 1975 M02]

Corvus corone Linnaeus 1758 BKB15, M02 [incl. C. betfianus Kretzoi 1962 M02, C. cornix fossilis Giebel 1847 non C. fossilis Giebel 1847 M02, Numenius pliocaenus Portis 1889 M02, C. pliocaenus M02, C. praecorax Depéret 1892 M02, C. simionescui Kessler 1979 M02]

Corvus coronoides Vigors & Horsfield 1827 JT12, WS48 [incl. C. australis S13, C. coronoides perplexus Mathews 1912 WS48]

Corvus monedula Linnaeus 1758 JT12, M02 [incl. Pica pica major Jánossy 1972 M02, C. moravicus Mlíkovský 1995 M02]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B66] Beavan, R. C. 1866. Extracts from a letter addressed to the Secretary relating his trip to Zwagaben, and discovery of Nemorhaedus sumatrensis. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 2–4.

[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.

[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.

[FP64] Fisher, J., & R. T. Peterson. 1964. The World of Birds: A comprehensive guide to general ornithology. Macdonald: London.

[G03] Gill, B. J. 2003. Osteometry and systematics of the extinct New Zealand ravens (Aves: Corvidae: Corvus). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 1 (1): 43–58.

[HSS13] Hirschfeld, E., A. Swash & R. Still. 2013. The World's Rarest Birds. Princeton University Press: Princeton (New Jersey).

[JM14] Jarvis, E. D., S. Mirarab, A. J. Aberer, B. Li, P. Houde, C. Li, S. Y. W. Ho, B. C. Faircloth, B. Nabholz, J. T. Howard, A. Suh, C. C. Weber, R. R. de Fonseca, J. Li, F. Zhang, H. Li, L. Zhou, N. Narula, L. Liu, G. Ganapathy, B. Boussau, M. S. Bayzid, V. Zavidovych, S. Subramanian, T. Gabaldón, S. Capella-Gutiérrez, J. Huerta-Cepas, B. Rekepalli, K. Munch, M. Schierup, B. Lindow, W. C. Warren, D. Ray, R. E. Green, M. W. Bruford, X. Zhan, A. Dixon, S. Li, N. Li, Y. Huang, E. P. Derryberry, M. F. Bertelsen, F. H. Sheldon, R. T. Brumfield, C. V. Mello, P. V. Lovell, M. Wirthlin, M. P. Cruz Schneider, F. Prosdocimi, J. A. Samaniego, A. M. Vargas Velazquez, A. Alfaro-Núñez, P. F. Campos, B. Petersen, T. Sitcheritz-Ponten, A. Pas, T. Bailey, P. Scofield, M. Bunce, D. M. Lambert, Q. Zhou, P. Perelman, A. C. Driskell, B. Shapiro, Z. Xiong, Y. Zeng, S. Liu, Z. Li, B. Liu, K. Wu, J. Xiao, X. Yinqi, Q. Zheng, Y. Zhang, H. Yang, J. Wang, L. Smeds, F. E. Rheindt, M. Braun, J. Fjeldså, L. Orlando, F. K. Barker, K. A. Jønsson, W. Johnson, K.-P. Koepfli, S. O'Brien, D. Haussler, O. A. Ryder, C. Rahbek, E. Willerslev, G. R. Graves, T. C. Glenn, J. McCormack, D. Burt, H. Ellegren, P. Alström, S. V. Edwards, A. Stamatakis, D. P. Mindell, J. Cracraft, E. L. Braun, T. Warnow, W. Jun, M. T. P. Gilbert & G. Zhang. 2014. Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds. Science 346 (6215): 1320–1331.

[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.

[L81] Long, J. L. 1981. Introduced Birds of the World: The worldwide history, distribution and influence of birds introduced to new environments. Reed: Sydney.

[MS55] Mertens, R., & J. Steinbacher. 1955. Die im Senckenberg-Museum vorhandenen Arten ausgestorbener, aussterbender oder seltener Vögel. Senckenbergiana Biologica 36 (3–4): 241–265.

[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.

[M03] Morcombe, M. 2003. Field Guide to Australian Birds 2^nd ed. Steve Parish Publishing.

[R85] Robertson, C. J. R. (ed.) 1985. Reader’s Digest Complete Book of New Zealand Birds. Reader’s Digest: Sydney.

[S13] Sarasin, F. 1913. Die Vögel Neu-Caledoniens und der Loyalty-Inseln. In: Sarasin, F., & J. Roux (eds) Nova Caledonia: Forschungen in Neu-Caledonian und auf den Loyalty-Inseln. A. Zoologie vol. 1 Heft I pp. 1–78, pl. 1–3. C. W. Kreidels Verlag: Wiesbaden.

[Sch66] Schlegel, H. 1866. Communication from, on mammals and birds collected in Madagascar. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 419–426.

[Scl66] Sclater, P. L. 1866. Report on birds collected at Windvogelberg, South Africa, by Capt. G. E. Bulger, C. M. Z. S. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 21–23.

[SWK87] Snyder, N. F. R., J. W. Wiley & C. B. Kepler. 1987. The Parrots of Luquillo: Natural history and conservation of the Puerto Rican parrot. Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology: Los Angeles.

[S05] Steinheimer, F. D. 2005. Eduard Rüppel’s avian types at the Natural History Museum, Tring (Aves). Senckenbergiana Biologica 85 (2): 233–264.

[VP89] Viney, C., & K. Phillipps. 1989. Birds of Hong Kong 5^th ed. Government Printer: Hong Kong.

[WS48] Whittell, H. M., & D. L. Serventy. 1948. A systematic list of the birds of Western Australia. Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Special Publication 1: 1–126.