Mystery Bird: Hooded Crow, Corvus cornix

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[Mystery bird] Hooded Crow, Corvus cornix, photographed on Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]

Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]

Photographed with Canon SX100 IS.

Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.

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Hooray! A big Corvid instead of an ambiguous Empidonax. Silver-grey back/mantle and nape, black head and flight feathers and a large black bill, it's a Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix).

I'm going to miss the corvids here. There's one that's been hanging round the cafe I frequent, looking for food. And the magpies are gorgeous - they hop onto the balcony outside my office before continuing whatever they're doing.

Bob O'H:

I lived in Australia for some time, and I *totally* miss the magpies!

Their complex social behavior, and their unmistakable song.