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Crow

Typical crows and allies
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Corvidae
Genus:Corvus

The true crows are in the genus Corvus; they are large Passerine birds. As a group they show remarkable examples of intelligence and one species, the New Caledonian Crow, has recently been intensively studied because of its ability to manufacture and use its own tools in the day-to-day finding of food.

All temperate continents (except, surprisingly, South America) and several offshore and oceanic islands (including Hawaii) have representatives of the 40 or so members of this genus.

Crows appear to have evolved in central Asia and radiated out into North America (including Mexico), Africa, Europe, and Australia.

They range in size from the relatively small pigeon-sized jackdaws (Eurasian and Daurian) to the Common Raven of the Palearctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia.

Australian species:

North American species: African species: North African & Asia Minor species: European species: Asian species: The islands between Southeast Asia and Australia have several species, as do the West Indies off the east coast of the North American continent. A few Pacific islands (including Hawaii) have representative species also.

For more information regarding crows, see the individual species. For more information regarding relatives of the crows, such as magpies and jays, see Corvidae.

Full species list of genus Corvus

See also Banishing crows from a field
The constellation Corvus represents a crow.