Rook
Corvus frugilegus
Print fact sheet (PDF)
Never alone: rooks live, feed and nest in company, in the clattering treetop colonies called rookeries.
A large black crow with a purple gloss, a peaked head, shaggy 'trousers' of loose thigh feathers and — the clinching feature on adults — a bare, greyish-white face at the base of a long pointed bill. Rooks are birds of farmland with tall trees, and their rookeries in stands of beech, ash and Scots pine around Dumfries are among the most conspicuous bird colonies in the district.
Behaviour
Rooks are sociable in everything they do. They nest colonially, repairing the same bulky stick nests each spring and stealing sticks from neighbours while they are away. They feed in flocks on pasture and ploughed land, taking earthworms and leatherjackets, and roost communally in winter in gatherings that can number thousands. Nest repair starts remarkably early, often in February.
When to see it
Quick facts
- Family
- Crows (Corvidae)
- Size
- 44–46 cm
- UK status
- Green-listed
Photo by Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons