What bird is that? Ravens & Crows

What bird is that?

In the leadup to this year’s Aussie Backyard Bird Count, our very own National Public Affairs Manager Sean Dooley is talking us through how to tell the difference between commonly confused backyard birds.

In this video, we’re learning all about Crows and Ravens – and the easiest ways to tell Australia’s 5 species apart according to their location and calls.

[jefsti]

THANK YOU so much for this video! I've struggled to find any information at all on Australian corvids that isn't confounded by northern hemisphere species. (Nor info on currawongs, for that matter, though I know they're a separate family.)

[berrysnoot]

1:48 - Australian Raven
2:10 - Little Raven
2:20 - Forest Raven
2:37 - Torresian Crow
2:53 - Little Crow

[PelleLo-nq]

Thank you! I have finally got a definitive answer to who I witnessed picking and eating my mandarines. Happy to share with my little raven family. Such interesting birds.

[colbyshea]

Wow… I recognised the call of the Victorian raven straight away! Thanks Birdman!

[relaxationstation]

Loved this video! Helped me work out that it’s actually little ravens hanging around my house and not crows!

[julieprior]

Wow! I'm in England and the differences between crows and ravens here is much more marked. Ravens are much bigger and their calls are quite different from your ravens. Ours make a very low pitched rattle and their throat feathers fluff out when they do it. Crows sound quite like yours. I love finding out about Australian birds - you sure have a big variety of beautiful ones. Some seem remarkably tame too. Liked your video a lot. Thanks!

[tiatorus]

I’m in Adelaide and this is the best explanation I was hoping for !!! Thank you so much wow

[cate]

Thank you... grown up in the Bega Valley but also live in Sydney - I love these birds and often wondered what they truly are - we always called by crows but now I know they are Australian Ravens - up close I see the curve in the beak... So amusing to me when I was leaving a shopping centre in Drummoyne and visitors from another country heard the whinging call they have - one gentleman said that he thought it was a person's voice.

[KatGrrl]

Thanks for the awesome video. We have heaps of these guys in my street in Sydney and boy do they make a mess of the garbage! But they’re very curious and friendly. I was eating a croissant this morning and one was eyeing me so I reached out with a little piece in my hand and he took it. Honestly it made my day!

[HRMNC]

Great info. I honestly though they were all the same and the difference was that the crows in the bush were more chilled out (Australian ravens) and the ones in the city were stressed out trying to yell (little raven/crows)

[MsGrinny]

Had no idea there were so many different varieties, in addition to the appearances of the varieties, their locations, and the sounds they make.
Thank you for that.
Fairly certain I'll still have a reasonable amount of difficulty distinguishing between them, but at least I now know they aren't all the same.
We never stop learning (unlike the way some people view things), and topics such as the noises made by animals can seem rather trivial, despite this whole subject being incredibly interesting (from my perspective.)
Greatly appreciated.

[craig]

Thats was really helpful, Thanks. So the corvids in our Melbourne backyard are most likely Little Ravens.

[davidseclecticmadness]

Thank you so much for this video!!! American here, and I was wondering what bird was making sounds I heard regularly on the show "Prisoner", and the film "Long Weekend". Turns out it is the Little Raven. Mystery solved!

[raerae]

We have the Australian Raven but i swear the length of the last caw is twice as long, slightly wobbly, and fades out. Brings me joy every time i hear it.
Mornington Peninsula, Vic.
*we also have the Little Raven but interestingly, no Forest Raven, which im surprised about, being so close to Tassie.

[eatingbeans]

Thank you for the video, I never realised we had so many species, subbed!

[honda]

You are amazing! Your knowledge and descriptions are very detailed. Thank you.

[johntrueblue]

OMG...living in perth seeing so many what i thought were crows but now hearing these calls i now know they are Ravens and not crows.
Thank you so much for this information.

[angelabonilla]

Love this video. Thank you so much, I live in Perth, and I am fascinated with these animals. ❤

[darkydoom]

yoooou for clarifying that. SO THIS WHOLE TIME THEY'VE BEEN RAVENS!!! in Perth

[kristinestahl]

Thank you for this. I’ve always understood that the difference between a raven & a crow is that the Australian raven is larger than the crow, has loose throat feathers & congregates in family groups, while crows congregate in large flocks & are smaller & have a hierarchical structure to their flock.