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The rook (Corvus frugilegus) belongs to the Corvidae family of birds in the passerine order. Its range extends from Scandinavia and western Europe to eastern Siberia in the Palearctic. It is a big, gregarious black-feathered bird with a pale featherless patch on the face that distinguishes it from related species. Rooks build their nests at the tops of large trees, frequently near farms or villages, and rookeries are collections of nests.

Rooks are primarily resident birds. However, the northernmost populations may migrate south during the winter to avoid the worst weather. In the winter, the birds congregate in flocks, frequently with other Corvus species or jackdaws. In the spring, they return to their rookeries and begin reproducing. They graze on arable land and pasture, probing the ground with their powerful bills and mostly eating grubs and soil-based invertebrates, but occasionally grains and other plant material. Farmers have accused the birds of destroying their crops in the past and have attempted to drive them away or kill them. They are clever birds, like other corvids, with complex behavioral characteristics and the capacity to solve basic problems.

Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish scientist, gave the rook its binomial name in his Systema Naturae in 1758. Corvus means “raven” in Latin, while frugilegus means “fruit-gathering” in English. It comes from the Latin words frux or frugis, which means “fruit,” and legere, which means “to pick.” The English-language common name rook is derived from the harsh call of the bird. The western rook (C. f. frugilegus) may be found from western Europe to southern Russia and extreme northwestern China, whereas the eastern rook (C. f. pastinator) can be found from middle Siberia to northern Mongolia and eastwards through Asia. Building, parliament, uproar, and narrative are all collective words for rooks. The name rookery was used to describe their colonial nesting behavior.

The rook is a big bird with an adult weight of 280 to 340 g (9.9 to 12.0 oz), a length of 44 to 46 cm (17 to 18 in), and a wingspan of 81 to 99 cm (32 to 39 in). In strong sunshine, its black feathers take on a blue or bluish-purple gloss. The head, neck, and shoulders have especially thick and silky feathers.

The bill is grey-black, the legs and feet are black, and the iris is dark brown. The rook may be recognized from other members of the crow family by a bare patch of pale skin in front of the eye and around the base of the beak in adults. This bare area provides the impression that the bill is longer and the head is more domed than it really is.

The rook’s leg feathering is also shaggier and laxer than that of the carrion crow, the only other member of the species with which it is likely to be mistaken. Furthermore, a rook’s wings are proportionately larger and thinner than those of a carrion crow when observed in flight. Six years is the average lifetime.

Except for the hind neck, back, and underparts, which are brownish-black, the juvenile plumage is black with a little greenish sheen. Because it lacks the bare patch at the base of the bill, the juvenile looks like a young crow, but it has a smaller beak and loses its facial feathers after approximately six months.

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