Granddad’s Camera
Chough, as it appears in the game

No.059 · Birds · Uncommon

Chough

Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax

A glossy black crow with a curved red bill and red legs, a tumbling, whistling acrobat of the windy Welsh cliffs.

When to look

All year, mostly at day.

Time of day

Best time
All year on the cliffs and short grass around the Marloes peninsula and Skomer. Breeding pairs build nests in early spring and raise chicks in caves from May–July.
Where in the game
the Pembrokeshire coast (clifftop, sea cliff, cove and island)
Size
39–40 cm
Wingspan
73–90 cm
Weight
About 330 g
Lifespan
Typically 7 years once breeding; oldest ringed bird 23 years (BTO)
Population
335 pairs in the UK in 2014–15 (BTO); a 2014 survey found 433 pairs in the UK and Isle of Man, 236 of them in Wales. Skomer had seven territories in 2024 (Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales)
Status
Green list, UK Birds of Conservation Concern, despite the small population (BTO)

Diet

Soil, ground and dung-dwelling invertebrates, probed out of short grazed turf with the curved bill

Habitat

Sea cliffs and coastal grassland, heath and dunes on the far west coast

Breeding

Nests in coastal caves above the high-tide line and in crevices. Clutch 3–5 eggs; incubation 17–18 days; chicks fledge after 31–41 days; one brood

Field signs

  • Glossy black crow with a long, curved red bill and red legs
  • Playful, tumbling, diving flight on windy days along the cliff edge
  • A ringing, high 'chee-ow' call, different from a jackdaw's 'jack'
  • Birds probing the short turf, or flocks roosting on the cliffs in autumn

Did you know?

  • Skomer's choughs held seven territories in 2024, and the autumn roost count around south Pembrokeshire reached 59 birds.
  • The UK chough population was 433 pairs (including the Isle of Man) in 2014, up 34% since 1992 (BTO).
  • Wales holds more than half of the UK's breeding choughs: 236 of the 433 pairs in the 2014 survey (BTO).

Moments worth waiting for

  • Cliff-edge aerobatics March to May, dawn and day
    Two choughs tumble and dive along the cliff edge on the wind, calling as they twist together.

Photo tip

Choughs are wary, so use a long lens from a fixed spot and let them work the turf near you: a windswept clifftop with grazing ponies or sheep is good. Slightly underexpose to keep the gloss on the black feathers; in flight use 1/2000 s.

Be a good naturalist

Chough is on Schedule 1, so disturbing nests or chicks is a criminal offence: keep well away from cliffs and caves where a pair may be nesting, never use playback, and leave any nest site alone.

The law

Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981: it is an offence to disturb a nesting bird or its young without a licence

Checked against