The Cornell Lab Bird Academy › Discussion Groups › Anything but Common: The Hidden Life of the American Crow › Crow Not Crow
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The crow's facial features like eye and beak shape are different!
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We don't have ravens in North Florida, so I don't need to distinguish between crows and ravens at home, but when traveling I can usually tell them apart by size and beak shape. I didn't know that ravens have longer throat feathers and that will be helpful for close up IDs in the future. Sometimes it's challenging to distinguish crows from grackles when they're flying. We also have Fish Crows, which I can distinguish from American Crows by their call.
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I can't tell the difference between the common crow and the fish crow - I see both around the beach but don't know which is which or what sound the fish crow might make.
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@Susan YouTube "fish crow call" - the sound is very distinctive!!
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The beak size and shape along with the eye coloring were two of the key identifiers that I took away from this lesson.
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I am getting better at noticing beak size, eye color and tail shape/size. In New Jersey there are no ravens but plenty of grackles, red wings, cow birds and starlings. In flight is my biggest challenge.
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I read that there are ravens in NJ now. I have seen them in NYC (as have other people) and they do "krunk" and when they fly they are usually high - hawk level - and that's how I know they are ravens as they size is comparable to a red-tailed hawk. Crows are smaller and they hang in gangs.
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I'm confident in being able to distinguish between crows and ravens. I've only seen a raven in captivity but the size difference was amazing. I have actually heard a crow that sounded a lot like a raven. His voice was totally different from all the other crows in my area (SF Bay Area).
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I m fairly confident with these pictures, but will probably have more trouble distinguishing crows from ravens in reality.
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I'm fairly confident in my ability to distinguish crows from ravens. I do so mostly by their call - caw and cronk. Ravens where I live are markedly bigger than crows. I look for the scruffy neck feathers to identify the raven.
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I don't have much trouble separating the crows from the grackles and blackbirds when they are perched or nearby... and none at all when they are calling. I do run into issues though when they are in flight and at a distance. Then I am more like to confuse them with the vultures (black or turkey) until they turn or glide. I don't quite have the wingbeat patterns down or the silhouettes. The very strong light in Texas can wash out a lot of the telltale details.
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I noticed that the crow's eyes are black, too. That helped me distinguish between them and the other birds on some of the close-up head shots. I had more trouble identifying them in flight from a distance or by silhouette.
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I'm pretty good distinguishing crow from non-crow/raven; but between a crow and a raven in real life, not still pictures, I'm a little shaky. It doesn't help that there aren't many ravens in this area for me to practice on. I appreciate the tips from this lesson, though. I'll be sure to put them into practice when I go birding in the future.
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I am confident in my ability to distinguish between crows (or ravens) and non-crows/ravens. My ability to discriminate crows from ravens when perched or on the ground is also fairly solid, less so in flight which is how we often see them here in canyon country (southeast Utah). Habitat, habits and calls are helpful but unless seen flying solo or in pairs along canyon walls (ravens) or as a "murder" (crows) I frequently find it difficult to decide what I'm looking at. Although we are shown as being on the edge of their range, American crows are often seen here in large numbers.
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I have a very hard time in general identifying birds in flight. Crows aren’t too difficult for me in New Orleans where I live, but I’m sure if I lived where you do with crows and ravens I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference until I heard their calls. I love your advice about watching to see how they group together and where they go. I did not know ravens are usually single or in pairs!
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@Desiree In my limited experience (although with many years of canyon hiking behind me), I've often seen ravens soaring along or above the canyon walls. In springtime, we frequently see them as pairs. They like to nest in sheltered alcoves or openings on the cliff faces. They'll often perch on a dead snag or rock ledge where they command a good view.
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I’m still having trouble with ravens and crows. If I see a small flock - say 5 - does that mean it can’t be a raven?
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That's interesting! Where are you seeing them? I always see ravens - in Reykjavik - and in the countryside - and in NYC - as single or pairs. Never flocks, but I've seen young ravens in a flock in the winter (a friend feeds them!). I always assume a flock is crows - I often see a flock feeding on someone's lawn, or mobbing each other over food items on the building roof across from me in NYC.
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I am confident that I can distinguish crows from other birds (though perhaps not yet from ravens) especially the babies, although I doubt that I will ever get that close. "Our" fledgling was walking about on our porch as a friend arrived for dinner. Oh! the out cry from parents and relatives as he approached! I wish I had seen the youngster.
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Sometimes from a distance I’ll see a crow or a grackle walking by itself picking at stuff in the lawn. From a distance, when you can’t gauge size, they still seem confusing to me. However, I’ll try to pay more attention to see if there are posture, walking, or behavioral differences I can spot.
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I'm not as good as I'd like to be in distinguishing a Crow from a Raven. I think I just need more experience and/or practice. The lesson was clear. I do better on your photo ID quizzes when the bird comparison is from the same aspect.
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I am confident in my ability to distinguish crows from ravens, however, we do not have ravens where I live.
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