Pyrrhocorax graculus
Silhouette: L. Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The Alpine chough (chuf) or yellow-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus) is a bird in the crow family, one of only two species in the genus Pyrrhocorax. Its two subspecies breed in high mountains from Spain eastwards through southern Europe and North Africa to Central Asia and Nepal, and it may nest at a higher altitude than any other bird. Its eggs have adaptations to the thin atmosphere that improve oxygen take-up and reduce water loss.
This bird has glossy black plumage, a yellow beak, red legs, and distinctive calls. It has a buoyant acrobatic flight with widely spread flight feathers. The Alpine chough pairs for life and displays fidelity to its breeding site, which is usually a cave or crevice in a cliff face. It builds a lined stick nest and lays three to five brown-blotched whitish eggs. It feeds, usually in flocks, on short grazed grassland, taking mainly invertebrate prey in summer and fruit in winter; it will readily approach tourist sites to find supplementary food.
Although it is subject to predation and parasitism, and changes in agricultural practices have caused local population declines, this widespread and abundant species is not threatened globally. Climate change may present a long-term threat, by shifting the necessary Alpine habitat to higher altitudes. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanoise National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Picos de Europa National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Ecrins National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 5 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Hohe Tauern National Park | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 7 | Hemis National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Langtang National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 9 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 10 | Aigüestortes National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 11 | Triglav National Park | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | |
| 12 | Jiuzhaigou National Park | 🇨🇳 China |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Almaty | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alpenzoo Innsbruck | 🇦🇹 Austria |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Alpine Chough sighting in Almaty on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 73rd most-seen of the 73 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Alpine Chough in Almaty on a given day, against under 5% in April to February, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Alpine Chough sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Almaty, in our data
Almaty is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Alpine Chough sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Corvidae
The closest relatives of the Alpine Chough that you can see in Almaty (family Corvidae, Crows, Jays, and Magpies) are Eurasian Magpie (about 90%), Carrion Crow (about 60%) and Rook (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Alpine Chough is recorded against all the birds logged in Almaty (8 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
