Red-billed Chough at the Museum Alpin – and Yet Not Quite Gone

For a long time, the red-billed chough lived in close association with humans as a synanthrop-ic species. It found its ecological niche in the surroundings of traditional agriculture. Known breeding sites included Tarasp Castle and the ruins of Raetia Ampla (Riom Castle). But the bird then disappeared from the Eastern Alps. Since around 1967, no breeding has been rec-orded in Graubünden.

However, what caused the disappearance of this species? This can no longer be determined with certainty, yet it is striking that the disappearance of the red-billed chough coincided with the gradual abandonment of alpine grain and vegetable cultivation. The chough depends on short-grass or sparsely vegetated areas for feeding, where it probes the ground for insects and beetles — areas such as fallow or freshly turned fields.

Yet the red-billed chough is not entirely lost to Graubünden. A mounted specimen of an En-gadin red-billed chough from the collection of Gian Saratz (1821–1900) is on display at the Museum Alpin in Pontresina, where it stands as a silent witness to the cultural changes in our mountain canton.

In cooperation with the Office for Hunting and Fishing Graubünden