| Cuban palm crow | |
|---|---|
 | |
| In Najasa, Camagüey, Cuba | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Corvidae |
| Genus: | Corvus |
| Species: | C. minutus |
| Binomial name | |
| Corvus minutus Gundlach, 1852 | |
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The Cuban palm crow (Corvus minutus) is a relatively small corvid that is endemic to the Caribbean island of Cuba.
The Cuban palm crow was formally described in 1852 under the binomial name Corvus minutus by the German born ornithologist Juan Gundlach. [2] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. [3] The Cuban palm crow was formerly treated as a subspecies of the Hispaniolan palm crow (Corvus palmarum). [3] [4] [5]
Despite being sympatric with the Cuban crow (Corvus nasicus) on Cuba, it appears to be more closely related to the fish crow (C. ossifragus) of the East Coast of the United States , as well as two smaller species, the Tamaulipas crow (C. imparatus) and Sinaloan crow (C. sinaloae) of Mexico , than the Cuban crow, which is more related to the white-necked crow (Corvus leucognaphalus) and the Jamaican crow (Corvus jamaicensis), the other two Caribbean corvids. This indicates two distinct arrivals of crows onto the island of Cuba (with the ancestor of the two palm crows being a later arrival), and a resulting niche differentiation, similar to C. leucognaphalus and C. palmarum on Hispaniola.
The following cladogram is based on phylogenetic study of the Corvidae by Knud Jønsson and collaborators that was published in 2012. [6]
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Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, magpies, jackdaws, jays, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers. In colloquial English, they are known as the crow family or corvids. Currently, 135 species are included in this family. The genus Corvus containing 47 species makes up over a third of the entire family. Corvids (ravens) are the largest passerines.
The hooded crow, also called the scald-crow or hoodie, is a Eurasian bird species in the genus Corvus. Widely distributed, it is found across Northern, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, as well as parts of the Middle East. It is an ashy grey bird with black head, throat, wings, tail, and thigh feathers, as well as a black bill, eyes, and feet. Like other corvids, it is an omnivorous and opportunistic forager and feeder.
The Australian raven is a passerine corvid bird native to Australia. Measuring 46–53 centimetres (18–21 in) in length, it has an all-black plumage, beak and mouth, as well as strong, greyish-black legs and feet. The upperparts of its body are glossy, with a purple-blue, greenish sheen; its black feathers have grey bases. The Australian raven is distinguished from the Australian crow, and other related corvids, by its long chest feathers, or throat hackles, which are prominent in mature birds. Older individuals and subadults have white irises, while the younger birds' eyes display blue inner rims; hatchlings and young birds have brown, dark irises until about fifteen months of age, at which point their irises become hazel-coloured, with an inner blue rim around each pupil, this lasting until they are roughly 2.5 to 3 years of age. Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield described the Australian raven in 1827, its species name coronoides highlighting its similarity with the carrion crow. Two subspecies are recognised, which differ slightly in their vocalisations, and are quite divergent, genetically.
The Torresian crow, 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 black plumage, beak and mouth with white irises. The base of the feathers on the head and neck are white. The Torresian crow is slightly larger with a more robust bill than the morphologically similar little crow.
The forest raven, also commonly known as the Tasmanian raven, is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae native to Tasmania and parts of southern Victoria, such as Wilsons Promontory and Portland. Populations are also found in parts of New South Wales, including Dorrigo and Armidale. Measuring 50–53 cm (20–21 in) in length, it has all-black plumage, beak and legs. As with the other two species of raven in Australia, its black feathers have grey bases. Adults have white irises; younger birds have dark brown and then hazel irises with an inner blue rim. New South Wales populations are recognised as a separate subspecies C. tasmanicus boreus, but appear to be nested within the Tasmanian subspecies genetically.
The little raven is a species of the family Corvidae that is native to southeastern Australia. An adult individual is about 48–50 cm (19–19.5 in) in length, with completely black plumage, beak, and legs; as with all Australian species of Corvus, the black feathers have a grey base, and the iris of the adult bird is white . Although the little raven was first named by Gregory Mathews in 1912, it was only in 1967 that there was consensus to separate it from the Australian raven as a distinct species.
The American crow is a large passerine bird species of the family Corvidae. It is a common bird found throughout much of North America. American crows are the New World counterpart to the carrion crow and the hooded crow of Eurasia; they all occupy the same ecological niche. Although the American crow and the hooded crow are very similar in size, structure and behavior, their calls and visual appearance are different.
Pica is a genus of seven species of birds in the family Corvidae in both the New World and the Old. It is one of several corvid genera whose members are known as magpies.
The fish crow is a species of crow associated with wetland habitats in the eastern and southeastern United States.
The Cuban crow is a crow species native to the northern Caribbean.
The Jamaican crow is a comparatively small corvid. It shares several key morphological features with two other West Indian species, the Cuban crow and the white-necked crow of Hispaniola, which are very closely related to it.
The white-necked crow is the largest of the four Caribbean corvids. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola ; it was formerly also extant on Puerto Rico and Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands, but has been extirpated from both islands due to considerable forest clearance and hunting for meat.
A crow is a bird of the genus Corvus, or more broadly a synonym for all of Corvus. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait, but is rather a general grouping for larger-sized species of Corvus.
The Hispaniolan palm crow is a relatively small corvid is endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola where it was formerly very frequent, but is now reduced in population.
The Banggai crow is a member of the crow family from Banggai regency in the province of Central Sulawesi in Indonesia. It is listed as critically endangered by IUCN. It was feared extinct, but was finally rediscovered during surveys on Peleng Island off the southeast coast of Sulawesi by Indonesian ornithologist Mochamad Indrawan in 2007 and 2008.
Jackdaws are two species of bird in the genus Coloeus closely related to, but generally smaller than, crows and ravens (Corvus). They have a blackish crown, wings, and tail, with the rest of their plumage paler. The word Coloeus is Neo-Latin, from the Ancient Greek for jackdaws: koloiós (κολοιός). They come from Asia, Europe, Africa and Siberia.
The Indian jungle crow is a species of crow found across the Indian Subcontinent south of the Himalayas. It is very common and readily distinguished from the house crow, which has a grey neck. In the past the species was treated as a subspecies of another crow species, but vocalizations and evidence from ectoparasite co-evolution and phylogenetic evidence have led to it being considered as a distinct species in modern taxonomic treatments. It differs in its voice from the large-billed crow found in the higher elevations of the Himalayas and the eastern jungle crow overlaps in the eastern part of its range. In appearance, it can be difficult to distinguish from either of these species although the plumage tends to be more uniformly glossed in purple and has a longer bill with a fine tip and a less arched culmen. The Himalayan species has a slightly wedge-shaped tail, unlike the rounded tail of the Indian jungle crow and tends to glide a lot.
The Puerto Rican crow is an extinct crow species in the family Corvidae that was endemic to Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands. Little is known about its habitat, but it possibly died out after the colonization of humans on these islands.
The small crow is a passerine bird in the genus Corvus of the family Corvidae. It was previously considered a subspecies of the slender-billed crow, but phylogenetic evidence indicates that both are distinct species, and it has thus been split by the International Ornithologists' Union.
