Field Guide
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Rook
Corvus frugilegus
Not yet photographed by the community
Colonial crow with bare white face at bill base.
Species Profile
Green List (UK Birds of Conservation Concern); populations stable to increasing.
- Lifespan
- 10–20 years in the wild, with some individuals recorded living over 20 years
- Size & Weight
- 45–47 cm, wingspan 80–105 cm; 330–490 g
- Habitat
- Agricultural land, grassfields, parks, and open countryside with scattered trees for roosting and nesting.
- UK Distribution
- Widespread throughout the UK as a resident species, though populations are supplemented by continental birds during winter months.
- Diet
- Omnivorous, feeding primarily on invertebrates such as earthworms, grubs, and insects, supplemented with seeds, grain, and plant material.
- Prey
- Earthworms, beetle larvae, crane fly larvae, grasshoppers, spiders; occasionally small vertebrates and birds' eggs.
- Predators
- Golden eagles, white-tailed eagles, peregrines, and occasionally foxes and carrion crows.
- Mating Season
- January to July, with peak activity in February to April
- Breeding
- Clutch of 3–5 eggs, incubation period 16–20 days, fledging at 28–30 days; typically one brood per year.
- Behaviour
- Highly social birds forming large communal roosts, particularly in winter, which can number thousands of individuals. They are gregarious feeders and are often seen in flocks. Rooks are known for their intelligence and problem-solving abilities, and they maintain long-term pair bonds.
- •Rooks have a distinctive bare white patch of skin around the base of the bill and on the face, which distinguishes them from carrion crows.
- •The collective noun for rooks is a 'parliament', reflecting their social and communicative nature.
- •Rooks are believed to be among the most intelligent birds, capable of tool use and recognising individual human faces.
- •Traditional rookeries (nesting colonies) can contain hundreds of nests built in the same trees year after year, sometimes spanning centuries.
- •In winter, rooks often travel considerable distances from breeding sites to form massive roosts in woodlands, sometimes sharing space with jackdaws and starlings.
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