in typical representative of the type Blauracken (Coracias) is the type living single in Europe, the actual Blauracke. it lives on Portugal in the South European countries as far as into Turkey and northwest-Africa. Eastward its spread-area stretches until west-Siberia and over the Iran as far as at the Himalaya where it is replaced from the Bengalenracke (Coracias benghalensis). Further types of the type live in Asia and Africa. All are sincerely colored.
Spread The Blauracke was earlier frequent also in Central Europe; the painter Albrecht Dürer still painted it 1498 as home-bird. Today, one still rarely finds it in the Mark Brandenburg and in Austria.
Shape With its mainly blue plumage and that bay backs are the Blauracke one of the showiest birds of our widths. Blauracken resemble the raven-birds with its short, powerful beak and its body-proportions (length approximately 30 cm, weight approximately 150 g). The popular name "Almond-crow", that alludes (almond = grain-sheaf) also to its preference for elevated locations, expresses this.
Way of life From such elevated points from, it hunts insects and smaller vertebrates in dry, open terrain or light forest-continuances. Occasionally many of this are found otherwise individually in the Mediterranean-countries or in pairs given birds together, as soon as locust-swarms appear.
Reproduction As distinct cave-breeders, Blauracken live in gladly abandoned woodpecker-caves, in whose proximity the males execute in May until June of prolonged Balzflüge. Both externally same parents erbrüten and feeds the 4-5 boys, that after a brood-duration of 19 days from the big ones, whitens, until eggs heavy to 4 g slips. The boys remain long in the unausgepolsterten brood-cave as nest-stools. Only after 26-28 days, they become fully-fledged. Against end of the summer, the European Blauracken move in to its winter-quarters in the southern Africa.
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