Not only in monochromes

Cool theme for this week's SMAP: Corvidae!

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Yes, this one will come with a geek part: Corvidae is a family of birds in the passeriformes order; that means they're in the same order of birds than sparrows or tits, for instance!

^{Western jackdaw - Coloeus monedula}

Crows and the rest of the bunch that belong to this family are some of the biggest passeriformes we can find... and we can find them in a ton of places! They're present in the countryside, near the sea, in city parks, you name it.

Jackdaws, for instance, are some of the smaller members, much smaller than the common raven (which is normally confused with the carrion crow, actually). They are easily identified by the size and the grey nape. They do have a brigh eye as well, not that apparent in these photos.

Most of corvidae are all black, or black with different shades of grey; most have characteristics that allow for an easy identification, though. Such as the red billed chough, that can usually be found in higher altitudes; as the name implies, they have a reddish beak!

^{Red billed chough - Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax}

In others, the distinctive colour pattern makes them unmistakable, even at a large distance:

^{Hooded crow - Corvus cornix}

These ones have my favourite black/grey combination of the family; they even look great in booty photos!

Corvidae are highly social, and most members are extremely intelligent; some of them can even learn some words!

That fact explains the curious behaviour we can normally witness when we're lucky to run into these creatures. I've had a blast seeing them eating limpets at a beach in Croatia, during vacations last year!

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Now, why the post title?

That's because although we're use to think about crows and near-all black birds when we hear about corvidae, the fact is there are more colourful members in this family!

^{Iberian magpie - Cyanopica cooki}

Magpies and jays are also corvidae! Iberian magpies are especially colourfull, with their beautiful blue tones.

Eurasian magpies have some more colours to add to the blacks and greys as well.

^{Eurasian magpie - Pica pica}

Se here you go, hope you've enjoyed some fun facts about this family. I'm guessing some members of our #featheredfriends community are having a blast with this theme... right, @corvidae? 😉

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Happy birding everyone!

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