Crows (Corvidae)

Chihuahuan Raven (Corvus cryptoleucus) - HBW 14, p. 636

French: Corbeau à cou blanc German: Weißhalsrabe Spanish: Cuervo Llanero
Other common names: White-necked Raven(!), American White-necked Raven

Taxonomy: Corvus cryptoleucus Couch, 1854, Charco Escondido, Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Multiple analyses of mitochrondrial DNA suggest that present species is sister to the "California clade" of C. corax, these taxa differing by only 1.75% (all mitochondrial DNA) to 1.8% (cytochrome b only), indicating that they diverged between 1.1 and 0.6 million years ago (well after the two clades of C. corax diverged); this suggests that ancestor of present species may have been C. corax of "California clade" that became isolated in SW North America c. 1 million years ago. Monotypic.

Distribution: Breeds in SW USA in SE Colorado and from SE Arizona, S & E New Mexico, S Nebraska and S Kansas S to W Oklahoma and W & S Texas and in N Mexico S to NW & NC Sonora, NE Jalisco, Guanajuato, NW Hidalgo, Neuvo León and C Tamaulipas. Winters throughout breeding range and also in NW & C Mexico (NW coast, and Guadalajara and Michoacán).