Bronze Crow: A Bird Whose Huge Beak Hides an Unpleasant Secret (8 photos)

Meet the bronze crow, a large inhabitant of some areas of the African continent. The bird's beak looks unnaturally large. As if it were false!





Want to meet a gigachad* from the animal world? Today's main character has all the signs on his face: large, muscular, and most importantly, has a giant brutal jaw. And it doesn't matter that it's a beak! Meet the bronze crow!

The habitats of the bronze crow are as hot as it is itself - North-East Africa: Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia. There the birds are at the height. In every sense: the bronze crow climbs into the mountains and plateaus between them at a height of 1.5 to 4 km.



In terms of size, the bronze crow is also the very best. Literally, the largest bird among all its corvid relatives, and directly in the entire order of passerines. Up to 70 cm of power, more than 1.5 kg of coolness. With such dimensions, birds easily chase the local elite of the food chain. For example, the largest owl in Africa - the pale eagle owl.





Like any other crow, the bronze owl loves to pick on everyone who is bigger than it.

If I were the eagle owls, I would also run away, because the voice of the ravens is the second coming of Dzhigurda. Hoarse, with growling notes. Not a bird, but some kind of dragon! In captivity, by the way, like a good part of their relatives, they are capable of onomatopoeia. If you try, you can provide a cradle in the style of black metal!



How did the bird gain such impressive dimensions? He ate everything that wasn't nailed down! Small vertebrates, fruits, carrion, grain crops and human waste - nothing will go to waste under his big nose, everything will go to please his stomach!



But the bird's favorite delicacy, like any jock, is pure protein! Worms and larvae. That's exactly what such an interesting beak was invented for. The thing is, searching for creepy crawlies all over Africa is a thankless task. But there are places where their concentration is guaranteed to be high. It's manure!



The raven digs through other people's excrement without embarrassment. And to avoid getting into anything, you need to be especially careful. Pay attention to the prominent growth. The bird uses it as a scythe. Only instead of grass, the raven cuts flatbreads. And for good reason: layer after layer, it finds a new portion of swarming worms, adult insects and their babies.



Speaking of kids. To get their own chicks, crows build a nest in the crowns of trees and on rocks. The house is not very complex in design: fasten branches, moss, animal hair - and it's ready! The couple lays three to five eggs there. It won't be long before the young gigachads take flight and flock together in flocks of young to fly around the tropics and conquer those around them with their chic!



*Gigachad is an internet meme that features black and white photographs of a muscular man. The character is a collective image of a successful, incredibly proportional man in peak physical condition.