I learned a lot! Thank you.

Tail feathers are confusing me in distinguishing crows from other black birds.

I am confident in my ability to distinguish crows, but I have a hard time when they are in flight. I find it hard to tell the difference in tail shapes between ravens and crows.

I feel fairly confident in identifying Crows from other blackbirds.  I am not as confident when they are in flight unless I can truly tell their size.

Yes I am confident that I can distinguish between crows and other similar songbirds. Eye color can be an indicator as well as colored feathers.

I feel confident in my ability to tell crows from other blackbirds, but not crows from ravens, especially at a distance with nothing to reference size.  More practice required.

raven wings are longer and thinner than crow wings.

The tail.  I forget to count the ‘5 fingers’ on the wing.  Usually other blackish  n birds have another color (even if it’s small) on them,

I am very satisfied with the Crow Course. Asan outdoorsman most of my life I have dealt with Crows on many occasions, most in Hunting them foe sport in Mass. Where I first learned how smart they really are, however the Ravens were a new challenge for me since I only rarely encounter them when hunting big game in other states. So that was a good learning experience for me. C S Sylvia

Grackles, brown-headed cowbirds, and other blackbirds are around the size of a blue jay, crows are muuuch bigger.  Grackles are pink green sparkles, and have light colored eyes.  Brown-headed cowbirds, surprisingly, have brown heads.  Ravens have a big, thick beak, an "Aquiline nose."  In flight, I think sometimes I confuse ravens for vultures/buzzards because they are so large.   In this case, look for the head/neck.  Ravens and crows have them.  It's almost impossible to count the big feathers of a raven in flight, but you might be able to notice the tail shape, though I've found that difficult.  Get used to the gentle floppy flappy of crows in flight.  It is distinct.

My crow has a non functioning foot to this day (31 Oct) from a red tail hawk attack September 10th of this year. Is there a chance it’s still healing.  I see no movement but I do see that he can put gentle weight on it finally. Desperately seeking Susan crow lover

For grackles, definitely the light eye color gives them away.  Also, in term of size, grackles and redwinged blackbirds are robin/bluejay sized, while crows are much larger and ravens are behemoths (in comparison). For ravens, that Egyptian bill gives them away.

Calls

I'll benefit from more and more practice, but what still confuses me sometimes is identifying the difference between crows and ravens from a distance, as they're perched.  Some times I'm just too far away to be able to use eye color and/or  feather color to help in the determination.

Yes- I’d like to learn more about the sounds and calls.

Yes. Beak size and shape. Tail feather length and shape. Feather coloring. All of these distinguish crows from other black birds.

I agree that eye color is a big tip for me.  Color of the feathers also helps.  I do find it hard to tell a crow and a raven apart in some of the pictures from the last topic.

Eye color! Crows have brown eyes whereas grackles, for example, have white/liht ones.

The beak is unique and helps me identify between the birds.  If I can't determine the beak it is the 5-finger wing tips and tail feathers that I look at to determine.

Yes. I am confident. Crows are more common and have more agility than other black birds in my area.

I am pretty comfortable with telling the difference between Ravens and Crows. In pictures it can be difficult. But when I see them in person, it's pretty easy, especially when they are making noise. LOL

They look so similar. I have trouble at times identifying from the photos

I am pretty confident. Definitely easier when they are making noise though. Then it is quite clear. I am surprised that the Raven map did not indicate ravens where I live (finger lakes region, NY) because I have ravens every spring. Perhaps they are traveling through during spring  migration? The crows are quite inhospitable to the Raven that dare come into area.