Alpine chough
Pyrrhocorax graculus (Linnaeus, 1766)
The alpine chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus), also called the Yellow-billed chough, is a bird of the family Corvidae in the order Passeriformes, part of the songbirds and other perching birds. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 211 g, and our sources report values from 207.5 g to 234.8 g.
Quick facts about the alpine chough
An invertivore of rocky habitats with a terrestrial lifestyle, it is partially migratory and is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, which is not a threatened category. It has 1 clutch per year of 4.1 eggs (up to 4.2), incubated for 21 days, and reaches sexual maturity at 3 years.
- Weight
- 207.5 g – 234.8 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 23.3 years – 24.4 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- rockysrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 21 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.1 – 4.2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 3 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the alpine chough
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the alpine chough live?
Not recorded
What is the alpine chough?
The Alpine chough (; chuf) or yellow-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus) is a bird in the crow family, one of only two species in the genus Pyrrhocorax. Its two subspecies breed in high mountains from Spain eastwards through southern Europe and North Africa to Central Asia and Nepal, and it may nest at a higher altitude than any other bird. Its eggs have adaptations to the thin atmosphere that improve oxygen take-up and reduce water loss.
This bird has glossy black plumage, a yellow beak, red legs, and distinctive calls. It has a buoyant acrobatic flight with widely spread flight feathers. The Alpine chough pairs for life and displays fidelity to its breeding site, which is usually a cave or crevice in a cliff face. It builds a lined stick nest and lays three to five brown-blotched whitish eggs. It feeds, usually in flocks, on short grazed grassland, taking mainly invertebrate prey in summer and fruit in winter; it will readily approach tourist sites to find supplementary food.
Although it is subject to predation and parasitism, and changes in agricultural practices have caused local population declines, this widespread and abundant species is not threatened globally. Climate change may present a long-term threat, by shifting the necessary Alpine habitat to higher altitudes.
From the Wikipedia article “Alpine chough” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alpine_chough&oldid=1382464899), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the alpine chough sound like?
Is the alpine chough endangered?
The alpine chough is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the alpine chough classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyCorvidae
- genusPyrrhocorax
- SpeciesPyrrhocorax graculus (Linnaeus, 1766)
Synonyms Coracia gracula, Cornix rufipes, Corvus graculus
Other names and names in other languages (77)
- Yellow-billed choughEnglish
- زمت ألبيArabic
- زمت الصرودArabic
- زاغ أصفر المنقارArabic
- زمت أصفر المنقارArabic
- غراب أعصم ألبيArabic
- غراب أعصم أصفر المنقارArabic
- Chola bequiamariellaAragonese
- graya picumariellaAsturian
- Жълтоклюна гаргаBulgarian
- তেমুBangla
- Kavan beg melenBreton
- gralla de bec grocCatalan
- ChjacculaCorsican
- kavče žlutozobéCzech
- brân goesgoch AlpaiddWelsh
- AlpeallikeDanish
- AlpendohleGerman
- ΚιτρινοκαλιακούδαGreek
- flavbeka montokorvoEsperanto
- Chova alpinaSpanish
- Chova piquigualdaSpanish
- Cucala alpinaSpanish
- mägihakkEstonian
- Belatxinga mokohoriBasque
- زاغ نوکزردPersian
- زاغ کوهی نوک زردPersian
- alppinaakkaFinnish
- Corbin chocardFrench
- Chocard à bec jauneFrench
- Chocard des AlpesFrench
- AlpenkaWestern Frisian
- Cág gob-bhuíIrish
- Cathag bhuid-ghobachScottish Gaelic
- Choia de bico amareloGalician
- Caaig ghob-buighManx
- זג צהוב מקורHebrew
- זג צהוב-מקורHebrew
- havasi csókaHungarian
- Ալպիական ճայArmenian
- FjallkorpungurIcelandic
- Gracchio alpinoItalian
- キバシガラスJapanese
- КъуалэпэгъуKabardian
- Сарытұмсық шауқарғаKazakh
- 노랑부리까마귀Korean
- QajûKurdish
- КӀыф къгтн къаргъаLezghian
- кІыф къипи къаргъаLezghian
- Agacinlld
- geltonsnapė alpinė kuosaLithuanian
- Alpu kovārnisLatvian
- жолтоклуна галкаMacedonian
- Жолтоклуна галицаMacedonian
- ꯑꯜꯄꯥꯢꯟ ꯆꯧꯍManipuri
- Dziłtah zhį́ʼii bidaaʼ łitsooígííNavajo
- टेमुNepali
- AlpenkauwDutch
- alpekaieNorwegian
- wieszczekPolish
- الپائنی چوگWestern Panjabi
- gralha-de-bico-amareloPortuguese
- Stăncuţă alpinăRomanian
- Stăncuță alpinăRomanian
- Альпийская галкаRussian
- КлушицяRusyn
- ÁlpagájonNorthern Sami
- čavka žltozobáSlovak
- planinska kavkaSlovenian
- Жутокљуна галицаSerbian
- Žutokljuna galicaSerbian
- alpkajaSwedish
- Sarı Gagalı Dağ KargasıTurkish
- галка альпійськаUkrainian
- Quạ mỏ vàngVietnamese
- 黃嘴山鴉Chinese
- 黄嘴山鸦Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the alpine chough
Other species in the same genus Pyrrhocorax.
Red-billed chough
Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the alpine chough?
The alpine chough is a bird in the family Corvidae and the order Passeriformes, part of the songbirds and other perching birds.
How heavy is the alpine chough?
An adult Alpine chough has a body mass of 211 g, with our sources reporting values from 207.5 g to 234.8 g.
What does the alpine chough eat?
The alpine chough is an invertivore, placing it at the carnivore trophic level.
Is the alpine chough endangered?
No. The alpine chough is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the alpine chough live?
The alpine chough has a lifespan of 23.3 years, with values up to 24.4 years reported by our sources.
How many eggs does the alpine chough lay?
The alpine chough lays clutches of 4.1 eggs, up to 4.2, with 1 clutch per year and an incubation period of 21 days.
Does the alpine chough migrate?
Yes, partially. The alpine chough is partially migratory.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Alpine chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/alpine-chough
“Alpine chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/alpine-chough.
@misc{alpine_chough_2026,
title = {Alpine chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/alpine-chough},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}