The Zoochat Photographic Guide To Corvids

Whilst rooting through the gallery in the last few weeks in the process of planning and writing my threads revolving around Afrotheres, Birds-of-Paradise and Ratites, I noticed that we appear to have a pretty good level of representation where the various members of the Corvidae are concerned.

As such, given the fact that I have found that the best way to keep my energy levels up regarding long-form writing is to write and complete smaller projects, I thought this would be a fun one to start and one which hopefully carries quite a good chance of encouraging further uploads of various species and subspecies to the gallery!

Much as was the case for the ratite thread I started (and completed!) last night, this thread will follow the taxonomy laid down on the Handbook of the Birds of the World website.

 

CORVIDAE



This family contains approximately 130 extant species within 21 genera, as follows:


Platysmurus - Black Magpies (2 species)

Temnurus - Ratchet-tailed Treepie (monotypic)

Crypsirina - Racquet-tailed and Hooded Treepies (2 species)

Dendrocitta - True Treepies (7 species)

Pyrrhocorax - Choughs (2 species)

Urocissa - Blue Magpies and allies (6 species)

Cissa - Green Magpies (4 species)

Perisoreus - Boreal Jays (3 species)

Cyanopica - Azure-winged Magpies (2 species)

Garrulus - True Jays (5 species)

Zavattariornis - Ethiopian Bushcrow (monotypic)

Ptilostomus - Piapiac (monotypic)

Podoces - Ground-jays (4 species)

Pica - True Magpies (5 species)

Nucifraga - Nutcrackers (4 species)

Corvus - True Crows and Ravens (43 species)

Cyanolyca - Turquoise Jay and allies (10 species)

Gymnorhinus - Pinyon Jay (monotypic)

Aphelocoma - Central American Jays (5 species)

Cyanocitta - Blue Jays (2 species)

Cyanocorax - Green Jay and allies (20 species)
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Platysmurus


Malay Black Magpie (Platysmurus leucopterus)

The range of this species extends throughout the Malay Peninsula from the southernmost tip of Myanmar into southern Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia, and into Sumatra, Belitung and Bangka Island.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Bornean Black Magpie (Platysmurus aterrimus)

Endemic to Borneo and found throughout.

Monotypic.

Photo by @LaughingDove

 

Temnurus


Ratchet-tailed Treepie (Temnurus temnurus)

The range of this species represents a patchy distribution throughout Indochina, with the largest portion of the population centred on northern Vietnam and eastern Laos and Hainan Island, and smaller disjunct populations in southern Vietnam, Cambodia and the border between extreme southern Myanmar and Thailand.

Monotypic.

Photo by @Chlidonias

 

Crypsirina


Racquet-tailed Treepie (Crypsirina temia)

The range of this species extends throughout Indochina and the northern portions of the Malay Peninsula, with disjunct populations in Java and Bali.

Monotypic.

Photo by @LaughingDove




Hooded Treepie (Crypsirina cucullata)

Endemic to the lowlands of central and southern Myanmar.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.
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Dendrocitta


Rufous Treepie (Dendrocitta vagabunda)

The range of this species extends throughout much of southern Asia, from eastern Pakistan in the west, through the Himalayan foothills and Indian subcontinent, to northern Myanmar and bordering southern China in the east, and south throughout Indochina.

Nine subspecies recognised:

D. v. bristoli
D. v. vagabunda - photo by @Chlidonias



D. v. behni
D. v. parvula
D. v. pallida
D. v. sclateri
D. v. kinneari
D. v. saturatior - photo by @Tomek



D. v. sakeratensis



Grey Treepie (Dendrocitta formosae)

The range of this species extends throughout south-east Asia, from the Himalayan foothills of Pakistan in the west, through Nepal, northwest India and Bhutan into southern China and Taiwan in the east, and south into northern Indochina; a disjunct population exists in the Eastern Ghats of India.

Eight subspecies recognised:

D. f. occidentalis
D. f. himalayana
D. f. sarkari
D. f. assimilis
D. f. sapiens
D. f. sinica
D. f. formosae
D. f. insulae

Photo by @Maguari




Sumatran Treepie (Dendrocitta occipitalis)

Endemic to the highlands of Sumatra.

Monotypic.

Photo by @Vision




Bornean Treepie (Dendrocitta cinerascens)

Endemic to the highlands of northern and central Borneo.

Monotypic.

Photo by @LaughingDove




White-bellied Treepie (Dendrocitta leucogastra)

Endemic to the Western Ghats of India.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Collared Treepie (Dendrocitta frontalis)

The range of this species extends throughout the eastern Himalayas of Bhutan and northwest India, and into northern Myanmar and southern China; a disjunct population exists in northern Vietnam.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Andaman Treepie (Dendrocitta bayleii)

Endemic to the Andaman Islands.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.
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Pyrrhocorax


Red-billed Chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax)

The range of this species extends throughout much of southern Eurasia in a largely patchy and localised distribution, extending from Ireland and Great Britain in the west, through southern Europe and northern Africa into the Middle East and Central Asia, and into southern Russia, Mongolia and northern China in the east; a disjunct population exists in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia.

Eight subspecies recognised:

P. p. pyrrhocorax - photo by @Maguari



P. p. erythroramphos - photo by @toto98



P. p. barbarus
P. p. docilis - photo by @fofo



P. p. centralis - photo by @Chlidonias



P. p. himalayanus
P. p. brachypus
P. p. baileyi


Yellow-billed Chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus)

The range of this species extends in a patchy and localised distribution throughout the highland areas of Eurasia, from the Atlas Mountains and Pyrenees in the west, through southern Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia, into the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau in the east.

Three subspecies recognised:

P. g. graculus - photo by @Tomek



P. g. digitatus
P. g. forsythi - photo by @Chlidonias

 

Urocissa


Sri Lanka Blue Magpie (Urocissa ornata)

Endemic to southwest Sri Lanka.

Monotypic.

Photo by @Chlidonias




Taiwan Blue Magpie (Urocissa caerulea)

Endemic to Taiwan.

Monotypic.

Photo by @devilfish




Yellow-billed Blue Magpie (Urocissa flavirostris)

The range of this species extends throughout the Himalayas, from northeast Pakistan in the west, through northern India, Nepal and Bhutan, to northern Myanmar and adjacent southern China in the east; disjunct populations exist in western Myanmar and northern Vietnam.

Four subspecies are recognised:

U. f. cucullata - photo by @Chlidonias



U. f. flavirostris
U. f. schaeferi
U. f. robini

Red-billed Blue Magpie (Urocissa erythroryncha)

The range of this species extends throughout southeast Asia, from northwest India in the west, through the Himalayas and central China, to southeast China in the east and Indochina in the south.

Five subspecies recognised:

U. e. occipitalis - photo by @LSouthern



U. e. magnirostris - photo by @Jackwow



U. e. alticola
U. e. brevivexilla
U. e. erythroryncha - photo by @George_Renard




White-winged Magpie (Urocissa xanthomelana)

The range of this species extends through northern Vietnam, northern and central Laos, and adjacent southern China.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Hainan Magpie (Urocissa whiteheadi)

Endemic to Hainan Island.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.
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All of those would be useful, I reckon at the very least it would give me more choice for one or two of those species.

 

Cissa


Common Green Magpie (Cissa chinensis)

The range of this species extends throughout south-east Asia, from Nepal in the west, through the Himalayas into northern Thailand and southern China in the east, and south through Indochina and the Malay Peninsula into Sumatra and Borneo.

Five subspecies recognised:

C. c. chinensis - photo by @LaughingDove



C. c. klossi
C. c. robinsoni - photo by @LaughingDove



C. c. minor
C. c. margaritae - photo by @alexkant




Indochinese Green Magpie (Cissa hypoleuca)

The range of this species extends from south-central China and Hainan Island in the north, throughout eastern Indochina, to southeast Thailand in the south.

Five subspecies recognised:

C. h. jini - photo by @George_Renard



C. h. concolor - photo by @Tomek



C. h. chauleti
C. h. hypoleuca - photo by @jayjds2



C. h. katsumatae


Javan Green Magpie (Cissa thalassina)

Endemic to western Java.

Monotypic.

Photo by @gentle lemur




Bornean Green Magpie (Cissa jefferyi)

Endemic to northern Borneo.

Monotypic.

Photo by @LaughingDove


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Perisoreus


Grey Jay (Perisoreus canadensis)

The range of this species extends throughout the boreal forests of North America from Alaska in the west to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia in the east, and patchily south through the Rocky Mountains as far as northern New Mexico and Arizona.

Six subspecies recognised:

P. c. pacificus - photo by @Pleistohorse



P. c. canadensis - photo by @Vision



P. c. bicolor
P. c. capitalis
P. c. albescens
P. c. obscurus


Siberian Jay (Perisoreus infaustus)

The range of this species extends throughout the boreal forests of Eurasia from Scandinavia and European Russia in the west, through Siberia and northern Mongolia, to the Russian Far East, Sakhalin and northeast China in the east.

Nine subspecies recognised:

P. i. infaustus
P. i. rogosowi
P. i. yakutensis
P. i. ruthenus
P. i. sibericus
P. i. tkachenkoi
P. i. opicus
P. i. caudatus
P. i. maritimus

No photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.


Sichuan Jay (Perisoreus internigrans)

The range of this species is restricted to northwest Sichuan and adjacent areas of Tibet and Qinghai.

Monotypic; no photographs of this taxon exist in the Zoochat gallery.
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Cyanopica


Iberian Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cooki)

Endemic to the Iberian Peninsula, ranging from west-central Spain to southern Spain and Portugal.

Monotypic.

Photo by @Vision




Asian Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyanus)

The range of this species extends from northern Mongolia in the west, through northern China and into the Russian Far East and Korean Peninsula in the east, and south into central Japan and eastern China.

Three subspecies recognised:

C. c. cyanus - photo by @Elephas Maximus



C. c. japonica
C. c. swinhoei - photo by @Javan Rhino


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Excellent I'm certain some of these will come in handy!

Go for it, I reckon - every little bit helps, even a low-quality image of an otherwise-unrepresented taxon. Worst-case scenario, I can just delete it again if it really isn't good enough, but it would more or less have to be unrecognisable for that to be the case.

 

That would indeed fill a gap for when I eventually reach Corvus - we currently lack that species in the gallery.