I go mainly by ear—they are both much more ‘visible’ by sound than sight. Outside of downtown Philadelphia, along the river, we have American Crows, Fish Crows, and the occasional Common Raven.

I find the trick seems to be to look at ALL the clues - wings (rounded, five fingered), tail (square ended), head shape, beak shape, dark eyes, feathers around head and neck.  Any one of these may not be enough to identify (especially wing tips), but if I can see more than one part clearly, then I can probably accurately identify a crow.

My tip is that non-crows are sometimes more glossy, like their feathers have more oils.

Yes, I am quite confident.

Crows have dark eyes, many other black birds have yellow eyes

Between crow and raven, sometimes the fully spread raven tail looks like a crow to me. learning the wing tips! I have both around my home, so want to know them apart flying overhead.

In person, it's easy for me to distinguish crows from ravens.  Ravens aren't really in my area, so I don't see them much, if at all.  But if I do see them, they are much larger than crows, so that makes it easy.  Seeing pictures of each bird is a little more challenging. As far as crows vs. other blackbirds, I start with eye color, as many other black birds have light eyes, whereas crows have dark eyes.  I also look for other colors in the feathers.  Crows are all black, but other blackbirds may have sheen in their feathers or even bright colors or distinguishing colors.

I am feeling more confident with distinguishing crows from other blackbirds. I cannot say for certain that I am 100% on crows vs ravens though.  We have a lot of grackles here so determining the male grackles vs crows is pretty easy when you get close enough.

The yellow eyes of Grackles are an easy identifier if they're close enough to see

I am around here, and I think I would be where the big grackles live as well.  Some of the boat-tailed grackle photos in the SnapID were tough!

Crows are also exquisitely beautiful.

LOVE CROWS !  Not really a "birder" / more aspiring naturalist  :) Don't think we have Ravens here in Pa. (?).  Crows always alert me to a perched Owl nearby.  I could be inside the house, but when I hear them raising a ruckus, I know to grab the binocs and run outside ! Am thoroughly enjoying this course !

I now feel more confident in identifying American Crows from other kinds of blackbirds, but I still lack confidence in distinguishing American Crows from Common Ravens. However, the class builds my confidence and sharpens my eyes, so I feel I'll improve. Differentiating crows from other blackbirds is easier. The eye color and size differences are key characteristics that help identifying crows from other blackbirds.

Feel confident, also recognizing eye color is distinct compared to other birds is helpful.

If I were to see a raven, I'm pretty sure I'd get it wrong! Mainly because I have no experience with ravens. But I do well distinguishing crows from other birds. Grackles have those big yellow eyes. Also crows are much larger than other blackbirds. From a distance, I can always tell a crow in flight. There's a certain quality to the movement of the wings, it's hard to put into words, but I see it, I just know.

I am confident about my ability to distinguish crows from grackles, blackbirds, and cowbirds, but less so from the raven.

Agree.  Dark Eye is the best.   However head shaper plus beak are also differentiators.

the dark eye color often helped me distinguish, as well as the brownish cap for the cowbird, the midnight blue highlights for some grackles and the red wings of the blackbird, and in the field, I am getting to know some of the red winged blackbirds calls. I do see beak shape and tail shape differences, but have not obsorbed well enough for those to truly help me distinguish in the field - especially if no comparison available. As well I think I would get tripped up by the Brewer Blackbird. However, I expect the crow's call would be a good tip-off!

Blackbirds are small, and you can see their pupils. Crows are larger , have broader bills, and have dark eyes.

Blackbirds are small, and you can see their pupils, crows are larger , have broader bills, and have dark eyes.

Not so good with flying crows and ravens. But there are no ravens around here. Lots of grackles, but they are easy to identify.

I'm confident that I can identify crows.

I am very confident that I can tell crows and ravens and, yes, the "blackbirds" apart. Crows are party birds. They do loops in the air and are very noisy; they also have rounded tails and shorter neck feathers than ravens. Grackles have long tail feathers and, sometimes, yellow eyes. Ravens, however, have diamond-shaped tails and longer neck feathers than crows. I hope these tips help! (:

I am confident.

Yes, I am.