Large-billed Crow

About the Large-billed Crow

The large-billed crow (Corvus macrorhynchos), formerly referred to widely as the jungle crow, is a widespread Asian species of crow. It is very adaptable and is able to survive on a wide range of food sources, making it capable of colonizing new areas, due to which it is often considered a nuisance, especially on islands. It has a large bill, which is the source of its scientific name macrorhynchos (Ancient Greek for "long-billed") and it is sometimes known by the common name thick-billed crow. It can also be mistaken for a common raven. The eastern jungle crow and Indian jungle crow were once considered conspecific and together called the jungle crow.

The large-billed crow was formally described in 1837 by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler under the current binomial name Corvus macrorhynchos. The type locality is the island of Java. The specific epithet macrorhynchos is from Ancient Greek μακρορρυγχος/makrorrhunkhos meaning "long-billed".

The taxonomy has a long and complicated history, and is still not fully resolved. Although ornithologists suspect that several species may be involved, the species limits are uncertain as each of the published studies only samples... Wikipedia →