rook

Corvus frugilegus

Facts

Why not download our rook fact sheet?

rook fact sheet

One of Britain's largest resident land birds
 

• Feed in flocks and return to roost all together in long, straggly lines
   
• Black all over
   
• Look for the groups of scruffy nests of sticks (rookeries) at the tops of tall trees

They make a raucous cawing sound, click on the recording below to listen:


Where found

Common in all but the very north of Scotland. Farmland, fields where there are plenty of woods and trees.
 

When to look for

• Nesting starts in February-March before the first leaves appear on trees

Fabulous rook facts

• Rooks are very sociable birds - if you see one on its own it is more likely to be a crow!
  
  
• They build their nests from twigs bound together with earth and lined with moss, leaves, grass and wool, and sometimes use them again the following year
  
  
• They are known to steal sticks from each others' nests
  
  
• The eggs are a glossy greenish-blue with dark spots - both parents feed the young after they have hatched
  
  
• Their flight includes many aerial acrobatics, with gymnastic swooping, twisting and tumbling
  
  
• The species name frugilegus is Latin for 'food gathering'
  
  
• Collective nouns for rooks are congregation, storytelling, building, parliament and clamour