Editing Alpine chough (section)

===Natural threats===
Predators of the choughs include the [[peregrine falcon]], [[golden eagle]] and [[Eurasian eagle-owl]], while the [[common raven]] will take nestlings.<ref name = birdwatchireland >{{cite web |title= A year in the life of Choughs |url= http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/Default.aspx?tabid=206 |publisher= Birdwatch Ireland |access-date= 6 February 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160411234509/http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/Default.aspx?tabid=206 |archive-date= 11 April 2016 |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref name = OperationChough>{{cite web|title= Know Your Crows |url= http://www.paradisepark.org.uk/choughs/crows.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140714160621/http://www.paradisepark.org.uk/choughs/crows.html |archive-date= 2014-07-14 |publisher= [[Operation Chough]] |access-date=5 July 2014}}</ref><ref name= Rolando >{{cite journal|last= Rolando |first= Antonio |author2= Caldoni, Riccardo|author3= De Sanctis, Augusto|author4= Laiolo, Paola |year= 2001|title= Vigilance and neighbour distance in foraging flocks of red-billed choughs, ''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax'' |journal= Journal of Zoology|volume= 253|issue= 2| doi = 10.1017/S095283690100019X | pages= 225–232 }}</ref><ref name= Blanco>{{cite journal|last= Blanco |first= Guillermo |author2=Tella, José Luis |date=August 1997 |title= Protective association and breeding advantages of choughs nesting in lesser kestrel colonies |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume= 54|issue=2 |pages=335–342 | doi=10.1006/anbe.1996.0465 |pmid=9268465|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223037430|hdl= 10261/58091 |s2cid= 38852266 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
Alpine choughs have been observed diving at a Tibetan [[red fox]]. It seems likely that this "[[mobbing]]" behaviour may be play activity to give practice for when genuine defensive measures may be needed to protect eggs or young.<ref>{{cite journal| last= Blumstein | first= Daniel T.|author-link=Daniel T. Blumstein |author2=Foggin, J. Marc|date=March 1993 | title= Playing with fire? alpine choughs play with a Tibetan red fox | journal= Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society | volume= 90 | pages= 513–515 | url =https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48609784}}</ref>

The Alpine chough is a host of the widespread bird [[flea]] ''Ceratophyllus vagabunda'', two specialist chough fleas ''Frontopsylla frontalis'' and ''F.&nbsp;laetus'',<ref>{{cite book |title= Fleas, flukes and cuckoos. A study of bird parasites. |author= Rothschild, Miriam |author-link= Miriam Rothschild |author2=Clay, Theresa |author2-link=Theresa Clay |year= 1953 |publisher= Collins |location= London |pages= 89, 95 |url= https://archive.org/details/fleasflukescucko017900mbp }}</ref> a [[cestoda|cestode]] ''Choanotaenia pirinica'',<ref>(Russian) {{cite journal |author= Georgiev B. B. |author2= Kornyushin, VV.|author3= Genov, T. |year= 1987 |title= ''Choanotaenia pirinica'' sp. n. (Cestoda, Dilepididae), a parasite of ''Pyrrhocorax graculus'' in Bulgaria |journal= Vestnik Zoologii |volume= 3 |pages= 3–7 }}</ref> and various species of [[chewing louse|chewing lice]] in the genera ''[[Brueelia]]'', ''[[Menacanthus]]'' and ''Philopterus''.<ref>{{cite journal |author= Kellogg, V. L. |author2= Paine, J. H. |year= 1914 |title= Mallophaga from birds (mostly Corvidae and Phasianidae) of India and neighbouring countries |journal= Records of the Indian Museum |volume= 10 |pages= 217–243 |url= http://phthiraptera.info/content/mallophaga-birds-mostly-corvidae-and-phasianidae-india-and-neighbouring-countries |doi= 10.5962/bhl.part.5626 |s2cid= 81701158 |access-date= 22 February 2013 |archive-date= 27 January 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210127141706/http://phthiraptera.info/content/mallophaga-birds-mostly-corvidae-and-phasianidae-india-and-neighbouring-countries |url-status= dead }}</ref>