Grey Crow
Corvus tristis R. P. Lesson & Garnot, 1827
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Gray Crow (Corvus tristis) in Indonesia
Cheongweei Gan · CC BY 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 320 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The gray crow (Corvus tristis), formerly known as the bare-faced crow, is about the same size (42–45 cm or 17–18 in in length) as the Eurasian carrion crow (Corvus corone) but has somewhat different proportions and quite atypical feather pigmentation during the juvenile phase for a member of this genus. The tail feathers are relatively long and graduated and the legs are relatively short. The overall colouring of the adult bird is black with randomly bleached wing and tail feathers. A large region around the eye is quite bare of feathering and shows pinkish-white skin with the eyes a bluish-white. The bill is unusual too in being very variable, bluish on upper mandible and pinkish-white on the lower in some specimens, while on others the whole bill is pinkish white with a darker tip. The forward pointing nasal bristles so often prominent in other Corvus species are very reduced also.
Wikipedia contributors, Grey crow; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T01:44:55.722700+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Corvus tristis R. P. Lesson & Garnot, 1827
- Name authority
- R. P. Lesson & Garnot, 1827
- Common name
- Grey Crow
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Corvidae
- Genus
- Corvus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyCorvidae Leach, 1820
- genusCorvus Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesCorvus tristis R. P. Lesson & Garnot, 1827
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Corvus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Brown-headed CrowCorvus fuscicapillus G. R. Gray, 1859 | CorvidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Samar CrowCorvus samarensis Steere, 1890 | CorvidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Philippine Jungle CrowCorvus philippinus (Bonaparte, 1853) | CorvidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Little CrowCorvus bennetti North, 1901 | CorvidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Northern RavenCorvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 | CorvidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hooded CrowCorvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 | CorvidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Carrion CrowCorvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 | CorvidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Thick-billed RavenCorvus crassirostris Rüppell, 1836 | CorvidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chihuahuan RavenCorvus cryptoleucus Couch, 1854 | CorvidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Indian Jungle CrowCorvus culminatus Sykes, 1832 | CorvidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Somali CrowCorvus edithae Lort Phillips, 1895 | CorvidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Flores CrowCorvus florensis Büttikofer, 1894 | CorvidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Lesson, René Primevère, & and Prosper Garnot. (1827). Description de quelques nouvelles espèces d’oiseaux recueillies. Bulletin Des Sciences Naturelles et de Géologie, Vol. 10. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:YNJM. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.