|
|
Article: Crows and Jays
- Article from:
- The Gale Encyclopedia of Science
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Crows and Jays
General characteristics
Resources
The members of the crow family (Corvidae) are among the world
’
s most intelligent birds. Some taxonomic uncertainty surrounds this family. Evidence recently gathered through genetic testing has led some
scientists to include such diverse species as birds-of-paradise, orioles, and drongos in the Corvidae, while other scientists place only the ravens, crows, jays, magpies, rooks, nutcrackers, and jackdaws in the Corvidae. This article follows the latter, more restricted, definition of the family. The corvids comprise 123 species in 26 genera. They are passerine or perching birds and count among their numbers the largest of the ...