Alpine Chough: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Crows and Clever Birds · day 4 of 7

Five facts

1. The Alpine chough holds a height record: it has nested at 6,500 m, higher than any other bird.
2. Climbers on Mount Everest have seen these birds following them as high as 8,200 m.
3. Its eggs are built for thin mountain air. They have fewer pores than those of lowland birds, so they lose less water.
4. In winter, choughs gather around ski resorts and hotels. Tourists love it when they wait at hotel windows for food, but hotel owners less so.
5. Choughs stash spare food in rock cracks, then hide it under a few pebbles.

The quiz

1. What height record does the Alpine chough hold?

• Fastest dive from a cliff
• Highest nest of any bird, at 6,500 m (correct)
• Deepest cave nest
• Longest flight over the sea

It has nested at 6,500 m, above any other bird.

2. How high have Alpine choughs followed climbers on Everest?

• 800 m
• 2,000 m
• 4,000 m
• 8,200 m (correct)

They have been seen following mountaineers at 8,200 m.

3. How are Alpine chough eggs suited to high mountains?

• They have fewer pores, so they lose less water (correct)
• They are buried in warm sand
• They have a double shell of ice
• They hatch in one day

Fewer pores cut water loss in thin mountain air.

4. Who is less happy about choughs waiting by hotel windows?

• Tourists
• Ski instructors
• Hotel owners (correct)
• Mountain goats

Tourists enjoy the habit, but hotel owners like it less.

5. How do choughs hide stored food?

• In snowballs
• Under a few pebbles in rock cracks (correct)
• Inside tree trunks
• At the bottom of lakes

They tuck food into cracks and cover it with pebbles.

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