Indian jungle crow

The Indian jungle crow (Corvus culminatus) is a species of crow found across the Indian subcontinent south of the Himalayas. It is very common and readily distinguished from the house crow (Corvus splendens), which has a grey neck. In the past the species was treated as a subspecies of another crow species, but vocalizations and evidence from ectoparasite co-evolution and phylogenetic evidence have led to it being considered as a distinct species in modern taxonomic treatments. It differs in its voice from the large-billed crow (Corvus macrorhynchos) found in the higher elevations of the Himalayas and the eastern jungle crow (Corvus levaillantii) overlaps in the eastern part of its range. In appearance, it can be difficult to distinguish from either of these species although the plumage tends to be more uniformly glossed in purple and has a longer bill with a fine tip and a less arched culmen. The Himalayan species has a slightly wedge-shaped tail, unlike the rounded tail of the Indian jungle crow and tends to glide a lot.

This glossy all-black crow has a heavy black bill but without an arching culmen (upper edge of the mandible) and has a fine tip. The feathers have a purple gloss throughout. The tail of the Indian jungle crow is rounded and the legs and feet are stout. The base of the nape feathers is dusky. The Himalayan japonensis (in this sense including western intermedius and eastern tibetosinensis) has a slightly wedge-shaped tail and a voice is a guttural and grating graak (intermedius) or a hoarse kyarrh (tibetosinensis). The calls of the Indian jungle crow are not unlike that of the house crow, but are harsher. In Sri Lanka, the house crow lacks the light grey neck, but the neck is slimmer than in the jungle crow. The sexes are indistinguishable.