Corvus corone
Corvus corone
It is widely distributed across the Palearctic, from the western Atlantic coasts to the eastern Pacific coasts (Del Hoyo et al., 1998; BirdLife International, 2024). In Europe, it occurs from the Mediterranean region to the far north (Keller et al., 2020). In Spain, it is present throughout most of the Iberian Peninsula, absent from southern areas, Ceuta and Melilla, and the archipelagos (Arce in SEO/BirdLife, 2024). In the northern half, it has a continuous distribution, especially in the Eurosiberian region and the supramediterranean zone. It is very scarce along the Mediterranean coast and largely absent from Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, and Andalusia.
In the Community of Madrid, it is well distributed across the mountains and foothills, as well as in points in the southeast. It is almost entirely absent from cereal plains and the metropolitan area. It occupies forest ecosystems in the higher mountain areas, being present in pine forests, oak forests, ash groves, as well as in juniper groves, olive groves, and riparian woods in the southeast.
Within the national park, there are two apparently distinct population nuclei, one in the Cotos pass area and another to the east in the Altos de la Morcuera. Both areas are surrounded by Scots pine forests with abundant clearings, grasslands, edge zones, and rocky surfaces.
The population in the northern half of the peninsula selects a wide variety of habitats at different altitudes, while in the south, populations are linked to specific habitats in the 500–700 m a.s.l. range, avoiding the lower, hotter, and drier areas of the meso- and thermomediterranean zones. It depends on trees for nesting and their combination with all types of crops for feeding, showing a preference for agroforestry mosaics and humanized environments in towns and cities, especially the outskirts. Occasionally, it is a very forest-dwelling bird in fragmented areas or at forest edges and clearings. It also occurs in pine, eucalyptus, and poplar plantations (Bolopo et al., 2015).
It is a common bird, but its distribution is limited by dense Scots pine stands. Its highest densities are recorded in oak forests and treeless high-mountain broom areas, habitats widely distributed throughout much of the protected space.
At the global scale, it is considered in the Least Concern category (LC; 2024). In Europe, it would also be classified in the same category (LC; 2021). In Spain, the peninsular populations are considered in the Near Threatened category in the 2021 Red List.
The Catalogue of Threatened Species of the Community of Madrid (1992) does not consider the species in any threat category.
BirdLife International 2024. IUCN Red List for birds. https://datazone.birdlife.org.
Bolopo, D., Canestrari, D. y Baglione, V. 2015. Corneja negra–Corvus corone. En Salvador, A. y Morales, M. B. (eds.): Enciclopedia Virtual de los Vertebrados Españoles. Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales. Madrid
Del Hoyo, J., Elliot, A. y Christie, D. A. (Eds.) 2009. Handbook of the birds of the World. Vol. 14. Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Lynx Edicions. Barcelona.
Díaz, M., Martí, R., Gómez-Manzaneque, Á. y Sánchez, A. 1994. Atlas de las aves nidificantes en Madrid. Agencia de Medio Ambiente y SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.
Keller, V., Herrando, S., Voříšek, P., Franch, M., Kipson, M., Milanesi, P., Martí, D., Antón, M., Klvaňová, A., Kalyakin, M. V. Bauer, H. Gr y Foppen, R. P. B. 2020. European Breeding Bird Atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. European Birds Census Council y Lynx Edicions. Barcelona.
SEO/BirdLife (Molina, B., Nebreda, A., Muñoz, A. R., Seoane, J., Real, R., Bustamante, J. y Del Moral, J. C., eds.) 2022. III Atlas de las aves en época de reproducción en España. SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.