Glossy black plumage, a yellow bill, and red legs distinguish this mountain corvid. In Triglav National Park it lives above the treeline and descends to valley settlements in winter.
Its plumage is glossy black, with a yellow bill and red legs.
The Alpine chough is a high-elevation corvid that stays in the Mont Blanc region year-round. Researchers analyzed seasonal survival in records spanning 27 years and 9,160 capture, resighting, or recapture events from three sites, comparing patterns by age, sex, and weather. The summer study sites were 2,400–2,700 metres above sea level.
Spring was a critical season for adult female survival, while males did not show the same pattern. Adult female mortality doubled when cumulative winter–spring mean temperature was −8 to −6°C compared with −12 to −10°C. Estimated first-year survival was 0.58 for females and 0.72 for males; annual adult survival was 0.85 for females and 0.89 for males. Adult survival was higher in winter than in summer.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Adult female survival in spring was lower in years with warmer combined winter–spring temperatures. The authors also discuss emigration outside the study area as a possible explanation for some of the lower apparent survival.