City - Kolkata State - WEST BENGAL Country - India
About
The House Crow (Corvus splendens), also known as the Colombo Crow is a common bird of the Crow family that is of Asian origin but now found in many parts of the world assisted by shipping. It is between the Jackdaw and the Carrion Crow in size (40 cm in length) but is relatively slimmer than either. The forehead, crown, throat and upper breast are a richly glossed black, whilst the neck and breast are a lighter grey-brown in colour. The wings, tail and legs are black. There are regional variations in the thickness of the bill and the depth of colour in areas of the plumage.
Taxonomy :: In the dry parts of South Asia and Iran the subspecies C. s. zugmayeri is found and this has a very pale neck collar. The nominate race is found in India, Nepal and Bangladesh and has a grey neck collar. In southern India, the Maldives (sometimes separated as maledivicus) and Sri Lanka, the subspecies C. s. protegatus is darker grey. The darkest form however is the Myanmar form C. s. insolens and lacks the grey collar.
Diet :: It feeds largely on refuse around human habitations, small reptiles and other animals such as insects and other small invertebrates, eggs, nestlings, grain and fruits. Most food is taken from the ground, but also from trees as opportunity arises. It is a highly opportunistic bird and given its omnivorous diet, it can survive on nearly anything that is edible.
Nesting :: At least some trees in the local environment seem to be necessary for its successful breeding although they occasionally nest on telephone towers. It lays 3-6 eggs in a typical stick nest, and occasionally there are several nests in the same tree. In South Asia they are parasitized by the Asian Koel. Peak breeding in India as well as Peninsular Malaysia was from April to July. Large trees with big crowns are preferred for nesting.
Roosting :: House Crows roost communally near human habitations and often over busy streets. A study in Singapore found that the preferred roost sites were in well lit areas with a lot of human activity, close to food sources and in tall trees with dense crowns that were separated from other trees. The roost sites were often enclosed by tall buildings.
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