# Rook (*Corvus frugilegus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/rook  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The rook (Corvus frugilegus) is a bird in the family Corvidae and order Passeriformes, grouped with songbirds and other perching birds. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 452 g, with values from 418 g to 489 g reported by our sources, and a wingspan of 93 cm. The rook is a terrestrial, sedentary omnivore of grassland habitat, with a geographic range of 19,020,000 km². It lays 4 eggs per clutch with one clutch per year and an incubation period of 17 days, and the IUCN Red List classifies it as Least Concern, not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 418 g – 489 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 93 cm |
| Lifespan | 19.9 years – 22.9 years |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | grassland |
| Egg incubation | 17 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 3.7 – 4 |
| Age at maturity | 18 months – 2 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Sedentary |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Passeriformes
- family: Corvidae
- genus: Corvus
- species: *Corvus frugilegus* Linnaeus, 1758

Synonyms: *Corone frugilega*, *Corvus frugilegus tschusii*, *Corvus gregalis*, *Corvus gymnorynchus*, *Corvus nudirostris*, *Corvus nudirostris*, *Trypanocorax frugilegus*, *Trypanocorax frugilegus ultimus*, *Trypanocorax pastinator centralis*

## Common questions

### How heavy is a rook?

An adult Rook weighs 452 g, with values from 418 g to 489 g reported by our sources. It falls in the small size class.

### What does the rook eat?

The rook is an omnivore.

### What habitat does the rook live in?

The rook lives in grassland habitat and is terrestrial and sedentary.

### Is the rook endangered?

No. The IUCN Red List classifies the rook as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does a rook live?

The rook has a lifespan of 19.9 years, with values up to 22.9 years reported by our sources.

### How many eggs does a rook lay?

The rook lays 4 eggs per clutch, with one clutch per year and an incubation period of 17 days.

### When does a rook reach sexual maturity?

A rook reaches sexual maturity at 1.7 years, with values from 1.5 to 2.0 years reported by our sources.

### Who named the rook?

The rook, Corvus frugilegus, was named by Linnaeus, 1758.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Rook (Corvus frugilegus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/rook