• Paulette
      Participant
      Chirps: 4
      I can tell each one in a minute by their calls. We had more Fish Crows where I lived only 2 miles from here. We are surrounded by ponds, rivers and numerous bodies of water including the Long Island Sound, The Hudson River, The Saw Mill River, The Bronx River and the Hutchinson River. It is exciting to see and hear the American Crow when they do come by and a real thrill to see the RAVEN. The ones I have seen were in pairs and took over the top peak of the Middle School.
    • james
      Participant
      Chirps: 7
      6B67485B-C1F0-4ACA-85E5-2EE49325D5FA i am confident i can identify them. They are my favourite animal of all. I have known this one for 3 years. I call him wingy because he has some irregular wing feathers on the right side. They dont affect his ability to fly (or ability to gobble up  cashews.).
    • Li
      Participant
      Chirps: 33
      I usually distinguish crows from other “blackbirds” by looking at the color of their eyes. But it's hard for me to tell which one is a crow when they're moving fast :(
    • Elizabeth
      Participant
      Chirps: 5
      I feel more confident with crows vs. ravens, but it can still be a challenge.  I can tell a crow from another 'blackbird'.  What I find interesting is the crows' abilities to identify ME and my husband vs. other people.  We had a LOT of construction done on my house during 2021 from the mid summer to just before Thanksgiving.  My husband and I stepped one foot out of the house and the crows (and the blue jays) would "yell" at us for food.  They are very used to getting peanuts from us.  But, these birds never, ever yelled at any of the workers who were here.  It was incredible.  I wish I were as good at identifying "our" crows as they are at identifying us! In mid-April of 2020, a "new" crow apparently was visiting our yard.  I did not realize this was a "new" crow.  The blue jays freaked out when it was here.  The jays and "our" crows have always eaten in harmony.  After all, they have trained us so well, there is plenty of food.  But, the jays were dive bombing the "new" crow and freaking out every time it stopped by for peanuts.  I am unclear what happened.  "Our" crows now have a larger family, I believe they are up to 9.  Of course, I still cannot tell one from another (and I cannot do this with blue jays either, lol).
    • Linda
      Participant
      Chirps: 5
      Wing patterns are particularly difficult for me to identify. I also still have trouble with crow tail vs. raven tail when the tails are spread open.
      • Teresa
        Participant
        Chirps: 1
        One approach to distinguishing between crows and ravens is that crows’ tails are curved like a “C” while ravens tails are shaped like a “V” - they are pointed in the middle.
      • Annabeth
        Participant
        Chirps: 107
        Try to look at the bill size the Ravens bill is thicker than the crows and the Ravens is taller.   Hope this helps.
    • kathy
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      Would appreciate some ways to distinguish crows in flight from other birds. Thank you.
    • Barbara
      Participant
      Chirps: 10
      I am gaining more confidence with this class. Head shape, tail length and eye color are also helpful indentifiers. Seeing videos of different flight styles would be super helpful, but I understand those may be difficult to acquire.
    • TF
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      Crows vs Ravens are my downfall.   ID from just images is more difficult than seeing them in nature. As for other black birds -- tails, eyes, and feather color are a giveaway for me.
    • Alicia
      Participant
      Chirps: 24
      I am confident as long as I am looking at images that do not move! :) I don't know if I would be able to make the distinction quite yet in nature. I am familiar with the very large size of ravens and of course the red wing of the red-wing black bird. But a few of the other black birds are tough. I use the eyes and the bills most frequently to help distinguish.
    • Margie
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      I feel pretty confident in identifying crows - they are all over my neighborhood and very chatty in the morning
    • Rachel
      Participant
      Chirps: 9
      We find the tails and eyes helpful to ID them.
      • Wendy
        Participant
        Chirps: 2
        I agree that is one of the biggest differences between crows and any other black bird.  Many of the other species have different colored and/or shaped eyes and tails.
      • Nancy
        Participant
        Chirps: 3
        Agree! Tails and eyes!
    • Patricia
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      I feel that I have a much better understanding between the two, but have much more to learn.
    • Ana
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      I think where I get stuck is still crow vs raven.  I often wonder if the birds I see around are crows are ravens and usually just think they are all crows.  However after listening to the difference in their calls, I realize that there are definitely ravens around.  Now I need to start paying more attention so I can distinguish them.
      • Wendy
        Participant
        Chirps: 2
        It is my understanding that ravens are not crowd gathering.  If you watch crows, you can usually trace it back to an area where there are LOTS of other crows in close vicinity.  Ravens are more solitary, at least according to what I've read so far.
    • susan
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      I feel confident in comparing crows to ravens, cowbirds, and grackles. They are all present at one time of year or another where I live. I always thought that ravens were just large crows. We have more ravens here than crows. We also have buzzards here.
      • Beverly
        Participant
        Chirps: 1
        I am just beginning to identify the raven/crow vs. the cowbird, grackle, etc.  How about the Starling?  I think they are related, but see no discussion of the to date.
      • Angela
        Participant
        Chirps: 8

        @Beverly Starlings are smaller than crows, although it can be hard to judge size from a distance.  Starlings have short tails and quick wingbeats.  They have tan spots all over, which are particularly prominent in winter, but are present year-round.  Cornell’s All About Birds page has tips on identifying starlings - as well as other birds.

    • Elle
      Participant
      Chirps: 6
      I’m very confident identifying crows from other black birds. I got all the questions right on the SnapID quizzes. Grackles, blackbirds, and cowbirds are all much smaller, have different beak shapes and wing shapes than crows. Ravens are a bit trickier to distinguish, but they are still distinct due to size, feathers, and beak shape.
    • I'm getting better at distinguishing.  Grackles and blackbirds in flight are still confusing; however, crows are so noisy that I usually can id them fairly quickly.
    • Jeff
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      I think that crows are a bit bigger than the other birds listed. I occasionally have trouble telling crows apart from turkey vultures.
    • William
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      Grackle's eye color is a distinguishing marker as is the color of some of the grackles. To me they look sort of doofus when walking. Coloring: brown-headed blackbird is sort of easy, and the red-wing blackbird is easy (they're also smaller than a crow). Ravens seem to be scruffier and in some of the pictures they looked "oiled".
    • Annabeth
      Participant
      Chirps: 107
      I see the shape of the beak  is a bit taller then the other birds.
    • Tom
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      Against other blackbirds: crows' eyes, tails, and wings are very distinguishable from the other blackbirds   Against ravens: more difficult, but the tails, size, and beak feathers work well to distinguish the two   It would be helpful to include a "choose the raven" (vs crows) module.  Thinking from a different orientation would reinforce the raven vs crow lesson.
    • Kyra
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      -I struggled more with the flight pictures. If available in the photo I used the eye color and beak to distinguish. In nature I would listen for their specific calls.
      • Nancy
        Participant
        Chirps: 3
        Same here. Still trying to get the profile of the tail correctly.
    • Barbara
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      I'm fairly confident. In the darker photos above, I got confused.
    • Justin
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      Shape of the beak.
    • Maureen
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      I feel confident that I can tell a crow from other blackbirds in flight and perched. I am going up to NH in a few weeks where there are ravens so I hope to see some so I can use what I have learned so far to tell them apart!
    • Julia
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      I think I could distinguish crows from the grackles and ravens up close, but from far away or in flight I may not be sure.