While I was in both Sierra Leone and the Gambia recently, I saw many flocks of a certain bird on the beach.
I sent the picture to a birder friend of mine and she identified it as the pied crow (corvus albus). Here is a clearer picture from Wikipedia, plus a bit of wiki-info.
The Pied Crow (Corvus albus) is a widely distributed African bird species in the crow genus.
Structurally, the Pied Crow is perhaps better thought of as a small crow-sized Raven, especially as it can hybridise with the Somali Crow (Dwarf Raven), Corvus edithae where their ranges meet in the Horn of Africa. Its behaviour though is more typical of the Eurasian Carrion Crows and it may perhaps prove to be a modern day link (along with the Somali Crow) between the Eurasian Crows and the Common Ravens.
I can’t help but get excited about something that might “prove to be a modern day link” between – well, anything.
David Evans' personal blog 