Taxonomy
The Red-billed Chough was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae in 1758 as Upupa pyrrhocorax. It was moved to its current genus, Pyrrhocorax, by Marmaduke Tunstall in his 1771 Ornithologia Britannica. The genus name is derived from Greek πύρρος (purrhos), "flame-coloured", and κόραξ (korax), "raven". The only other member of the genus is the Alpine Chough, Pyrrhocorax graculus. The closest relatives of the choughs are the typical crows, Corvus, especially the jackdaws in the subgenus Coloeus.
"Chough" was originally an alternative onomatopoeic name for the Jackdaw, Corvus monedula, based on its call. The similar red-billed species, formerly particularly common in Cornwall, became known initially as "Cornish Chough" and then just "Chough", the name transferring from one species to the other. The Australian White-winged Chough, Corcorax melanorhamphos, despite its similar shape and habits, is only distantly related to the true choughs, and is an example of convergent evolution.
Read more about this topic: Red-billed Chough