![]() Such behavior is a dead giveaway that you’re looking at a raven, but it’s not very reliable they tend to only engage in such playful behavior on windy days, or those with powerful thermals (rising masses of hot air) to keep them aloft.Īs far as the shape of their wings is concerned, ravens have pointed wings with long primary feathers near their tip. Ravens like to do all sorts of fancy acrobatics during flight, including somersaults (loops) or even flying upside-down, possibly just for fun. If you see such a bird soaring - gliding along with outstretched wings - for more than a few seconds at a time, chances are it’s a raven. Crows tend to actively flap their wings more often than ravens, which tend to prefer soaring on rising masses of air (they are heavier, and this helps them save energy). In flight, the raven’s neck is also longer than a crow’s. A raven’s wingspan is much greater than that of a crow (3.5-4 ft / 1-1.2 m and 2.5 ft / 76 cm, respectively) and raven’s wing beats make a distinctive swishing sound while a crow’s are silent. If you happen to spot the birds mid-flight, a few more tell-tale differences become apparent. At a slow pace, a raven’s walking pattern is the same as those employed by crows. One reliable way to tell a raven apart here, however, is by how they walk: ravens tend to mix little hops in their gait when moving more rapidly. On the ground, both birds behave similarly. Ravens tend to have ruffled feathers on the throat, whereas crows’ are swept neat and tidy. Both sport bristles at the base of the beak, but for ravens, these are much more pronounced. ![]() Ravens have larger and curvier beaks than crows. Crow feathers are iridescent blue and purple but are far less shiny than those of ravens (although they still do have a little bit of sheen to them). Raven feathers are very glossy with green, blue, and purple iridescence they can also have a wet or oily sheen. As far as the plumage is concerned, both species sport jet-black feathers. If vocalizations are not forthcoming, either, we can start looking at the physical features of the birds in question. Personally, I find the latter to sound much more ominous, and use this as a rough but reliable guideline when trying to identify ravens. Crows vocalize through ‘caw’s or ‘purr’s (sound sample for carrion crows, American crows) while ravens use much lower, rougher croaks. The two species also produce different sounds. are quite fond of cityscapes and generally not people-shy. Meanwhile “crows” - typically the Carrion Crow ( Corvus corone) in Europe and American Crow ( Corvus brachyrhynchos) in the U.S. A stuffed common raven and carrion crow, side by side, at the Natural History Museum of Genoa. As a rule of thumb, crows are about the size of a pigeon and weigh on average 20 oz / o.55 kgs, while ravens are roughly as large as hawks, typically weighing 40 oz / 1.1 kgs. Ravens aren’t particularly fond of urban areas and their bustling crowds, however, so if you’re in a city, you’re probably more likely to be seeing a ‘really big crow’ than a raven. This is especially useful to know in rural areas, where size can be a pretty reliable indicator of which of these birds you’re dealing with. If we happen upon a solitary bird, however, such context clues won’t do us much good so we’ll have to look at the characteristics of the individual.Ĭommon ravens ( Corvus corax) are, indeed, larger than your average crow. ![]() One of the first indications that you’re seeing a crow rather than a raven is that the former generally travels in large groups, while the latter prefers to hang out in pairs. But - lucky you! - we’re about to go through them today.
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