How To Tell A Crow From A Raven

The large all-black bird that you observe is likely a crow or a raven and they both happen to belong to the same family known as Corvidae and the genus Corvus. The latter actually being Latin for crow.

This species makes its home throughout the world with the exception of Antarctica and South America.  While the common raven is more abundant on a global basis it is found in the western US, Appalachian Mountains, northern reaches of Wisconsin into Canada and Mexico.  The American crow is found throughout the US and Canada.

Both birds are year-round residents here and the best way to tell them apart is by the difference in size.  Ravens are larger.

There is also a subtle difference in their beaks - ravens sport a larger, curvier beak with larger bristles at the base.  This aids the raven in the pursuit of its preferred meal of roadkill and carrion.  In contrast crows are largely herbivores and will eat roadkill only rarely.

Vocalizations are different too.  Crows caw and ravens croak.  Ravens will also scream - a vocalization used to attract others to a particularly good source of food.

Listed as a species of least concern neither of these birds are endangered.  As a matter of fact they respond positively to the presence of people and the easy food resources that accompany urbanization and fragmentation. 

Even though these birds belong to the same genus they are indeed biologically different as described in the preceding paragraphs. While both are among the most intelligent animals on the planet, ravens excel at problem-solving, mimic the calls of other birds and possess the ability to plan in advance.  Crows have the ability to recognize individual people.

They don't necessarily coexist and have been known to raid each others' nests and compete for territory and food resources.  Strangely, the smaller crows make the most trouble.

If you want to learn more about the lives of these birds here at The Platz you can search under crow or raven using the labels on the homepage of the blog or plug either name or the word: corvus in the search feature in the tool bar above.

Raven

Crow