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Two rooks perched on fence post

Rook

Rooks often earned the ire of farmers for their omnivorous diet which includes seeds and root crops. In spite of their reputation for intelligence, they can't tell the difference between discarded turnips, those that a farmer has put out for his sheep and those which he wishes to sell.

Scientific name: Corvus frugilegus

Rank: Species

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Distribution

Map showing the distribution of the Rook taxa

Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.

The Rook can be found in a number of locations including: Asia, China, Europe, Mediterranean, Russia, United Kingdom, Wales. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.

Habitats

The following habitats are found across the Rook distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.

Behaviours

Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.

Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web

Conservation Status

Least Concern

  1. EX - Extinct
  2. EW
  3. CR - Threatened
  4. EN - Threatened
  5. VU - Threatened
  6. NT
  7. LC - Least concern

Year assessed: 2009

Classified by: IUCN 3.1

About

The Rook (Corvus frugilegus) is a member of the Corvidae family in the passerine order of birds. Named by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, the species name frugilegus is Latin for "food-gathering".

This species is similar in size (45–47 cm in length) to or slightly smaller than the Carrion Crow with black feathers often showing a blue or bluish-purple sheen in bright sunlight. The feathers on the head, neck and shoulders are particularly dense and silky. The legs and feet are generally black and the bill grey-black.

Rooks are distinguished from similar members of the crow family by the bare grey-white skin around the base of the adult's bill in front of the eyes. The feathering around the legs also looks shaggier and laxer than the congeneric Carrion Crow. The juvenile is superficially more similar to the Crow because it lacks the bare patch at the base of the bill, but it loses the facial feathers after about six months. Collective nouns for rooks include building, parliament, clamour and storytelling. Their nesting patterns gave rise to the term rookery.

Read more at Wikipedia

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Sounds

BBC News about Rook

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