1. Home
  2. Home
  3. Species Profiles
  4. Moustached Warbler (Acrocephalus melanopogon)

Moustached Warbler (Acrocephalus melanopogon)

The Alpine Chough lives and breeds at altitudes beyond the reach of most other European birds. It is comfortable at 3000m, and almost never descends below 1500m; nest sites are at heights where many species would perish. Within its limits the Alpine Chough moves effortlessly up and down mountains, feeding at the snow line one moment, descending to the tree line another; it has been known to range 1600m in a single day. It has an ease of flight that makes this possible; it can soar in good weather or it can ride tempestuous winds. It gives the impression at times of simply playing with whatever weather the mountains throw at it.

Alpine Choughs are sociable birds. Most people see them for the first time on mountains with ski-lifts or restaurants, where the choughs search for scraps of food and can become very tame. Human habitation is a bonus, especially in winter, when they would otherwise be subsisting mainly on berries. Their main summer food is insects, collected from short grass meadows and among boulders.

Alpine Chough

Alpine Chough, French Pyrenees, August 2014 (Dominic Couzens)

Despite their tendency to associate in flocks, the majority of Alpine Choughs nest singly (colonies of up to 20 pairs are known). They select a site on a cliff ledge, in a cave or on a building, far from the reach of any ground predators. The nest can be placed deep in a crevice up to 10m from the outside world, in complete darkness.