The Chough is a member of the crow family (Corvidae). But when considering its life history, you should perhaps imagine a conversation at a family dinner table, where the child and heir suddenly makes an announcement. In a break from previous generations of, say, lawyers, the child has decided to be an organic gardener – cue gasps and general horror, and adaptation for all. So, the Chough, relative to the other crows of Britain, is a maverick; it is the upstart crow, you might say.
The Chough, therefore, doesn’t eat carrion or general refuse, or form large flocks on ploughed fields, or build obvious nests. It doesn’t caw, but just utters a joyful ‘chee-ow’, which tells us that its name is always pronounced wrongly – we say chuff, but it…
