New Caledonian Crow

The New Caledonian Crow (Corvus moneduloides) is a moderately sized crow (40 cm in length) similar in size to the House Crow but less slender looking. The bird is all black with a rich gloss to the feathers of purple, dark blue and some green in good light. The bill, feet and legs are all black too. The bill is of moderate size but is unusual in that the tip of the lower is angled up making it somewhat chisel-like in profile.

The bird is endemic to the island of New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands in the Pacific, living in primary forest.

It is one of a small group of animals now accepted in scientific study to be not only a tool-user, but a tool-maker. It takes a very wide range of food items including many types of insects and other invertebrates (some caught in flight with some agility, including night-flying insects which it catches at dusk), eggs and nestlings, snails (which it drops from a height onto hard stones), and various nuts and seeds. Most interestingly, it is known for its manufacture of plant material into hooks or barbs for extracting grubs from inside logs and branches. It is one of the most remarkable and resourceful of creatures, showing great ingenuity in the search for food.

The nest is built high in a tree with usually only 2 eggs laid from September to November.

The voice is described as a soft waa-waa or wak-wak, sometimes a hoarse waaaaw.

Image link

• Very good images of two birds
• Great portrait shot of "Betty"