Editing Alpine chough (section)

{{Short description|Bird in the crow family}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Alpine_Chough_by_Jim Higham.jpg
| image_caption = Adult of nominate subspecies in Switzerland
| image_alt = Black crow-like bird with yellow bill perched on rock with valley in the background
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Pyrrhocorax graculus'' |volume=2016 |page=e.T22705921A87386602 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22705921A87386602.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Pyrrhocorax
| species = graculus
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1766)
| range_map = PyrrhocoraxGraculusIUCN.svg
| range_map_caption =Approximate distribution shown in green
| range_map_alt= This bird is resident in mountains in Morocco, Spain, southern Europe, Central Asia, India and China
| synonyms = ''Corvus graculus'' {{small|Linnaeus,&nbsp;1766}}
}}

The '''Alpine chough''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|tʃ|ʌ|f}}) or '''yellow-billed chough''' ('''''Pyrrhocorax graculus''''') is a [[bird]] in the [[crow]] family, one of only two species in the genus ''[[Pyrrhocorax]]''. Its two [[subspecies]] breed in high mountains from Spain eastwards through southern Europe and [[North Africa]] to [[Central Asia]] and Nepal, and it may nest at a higher altitude than any other bird. The eggs have adaptations to the thin atmosphere that improve oxygen take-up and reduce water loss.

This bird has glossy black [[plumage]], a yellow beak, red legs, and distinctive calls. It has a buoyant acrobatic flight with widely spread [[flight feather]]s. The Alpine chough [[pair bond|pairs]] for life and displays [[philopatry|fidelity]] to its breeding site, which is usually a cave or crevice in a cliff face. It builds a lined stick nest and lays three to five brown-blotched whitish eggs. It feeds, usually in flocks, on short grazed grassland, taking mainly [[invertebrate]] prey in summer and fruit in winter; it will readily approach tourist sites to find supplementary food.

Although it is subject to predation and parasitism, and changes in agricultural practices have caused local population declines, this widespread and abundant species is not threatened globally. Climate change may present a long-term threat, by shifting the necessary Alpine habitat to higher altitudes.