What is a chough?
The red-billed chough is a corvid – a member of the crow family – and boasts a glossy black plumage, bright red beak and red legs.
Chough call
Choughs have a very distinctive call, a clear and loud chee-ow sound.
What do choughs eat?
Beetles, ants, fly larvae are key food items; choughs also eat spiders, earthworms, berries and even cereal grains.
Chough habitat
Coastal areas and sheep-grazed grassland pastures.
Chough behaviour
They form colonies and roost on rock crevices, ledges, cliff faces and abandoned buildings. They roost communally, outside of breeding season. Choughs pair for life with a single mate, and feed in pairs within a larger flock of birds.
Nesting and breeding
Breeding pairs build nests out of twigs, moss, grass and animal fur. These nests are sited in caves, rock faces and buildings.
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Chough distribution
Fewer than 250 pairs in the UK. Once widespread, the chough is now restricted to west coast of Ireland and Wales as well as a small isolated chough population in Cornwall, which is the result of a recolonisation by the birds in 2001. A reintroduction scheme in Jersey in 2010 has produced many breeding pairs.
A handful of choughs were released in Dover in Kent in July 2023. Since their release, they have spread their wings and grown stronger, flying further and exploring new territories.
