Rook
Corvus frugilegus
Photo by Martin Minarik
UK Conservation status: AMBER
Rooks are typically seen in flocks in open fields. Close up the adults have a bare greyish-white face and a slightly untidy look compared to the similar carrion crow. This BTO video will help you to distinguish the two Identifying Corvids - Crow, Chough, Jackdaw, Rook and Raven | BTO - British Trust for Ornithology
The rook’s name is derived from its call, it was originally referred to as the ‘hroc’. You can listen to a recording of their calls here Rook Bird Facts | Corvus Frugilegus - The RSPB
You can see rooks all year. Every afternoon hundreds of rooks and jackdaws gather in the skies above Park Lane and adjacent roads The actual roost is on the big mature trees on Histon Manor on the north side of Park Lane.
Groups of rooks, which can contain tens of individuals, are often called ‘a parliament’ of rooks.
Rooks are communal breeders, nesting early in the year in colonies known as rookeries. Nests are built high in the trees and made of twigs and branches. These are broken off trees or stolen from a nearby nest. There are benefits for birds to nest in colonial groups. With more adult birds in the area, predators may be spotted more quickly and pose less of a threat to the group as a whole. Groups of adult birds may also gang up on intruders to defend the nesting area if necessary.
Rooks have several different display and signalling behaviours, no doubt because they live in close proximity to one another. Many are used to communicate the status of an individual or to advertise ownership of a particular nest. Bowing and tail fanning, typically accompanied with much calling, are a feature of the breeding season, when quarrels become more commonplace. Display is an important behaviour because it helps to resolve conflict and support social status without the need for fightingt which could prove physically damaging. Other behaviours are used to reinforce the ‘pair bond’ that exists between a female and her mate, a bond that can last for many years. Bird ringing has revealed that a rook may live for 20 years or more
Worms, beetles and other invertebrates are the rook’s main food, which it catches by probing the ground with its large beak. It will also feed on grain, fruit, acorns and occasionally carrion and birds’ eggs.
There are many superstitions surrounding members of the crow family, often these can be traced back to the rook. For example, the saying ‘as the crow flies’ is likely to refer to the rook which has a very direct flight, particularly when returning to its roost site in the evening. The scarecrow should actually have been called a ‘scare-rook’ because carrion crows don’t damage farmer’s crops to the same extent. Well-established rookeries are deemed to bring good fortune but if rooks desert a rookery then a calamity is signalled.