I live in Southern California where we have both.  Aside from appearance my number one way to tell them apart are numbers.  Crows are usually in a murder and ravens are usually just with a partner.  Although sometimes after fledging I see a family of ravens practicing soaring.  I’ve also noticed that I see ravens in every national park I visit, from the forest to the coast to the desert.

1. In my case I would tell my neighbor that her cat kills more songbirds than crows and see where the conversation goes from there.

2. I see crows on a daily basis near my residence. I live in the path of their daily movements to their roosting spots. Sometimes they land in the trees and nearby buildings gathering in large numbers while vocalizing. It's an amazing experience.

3. I live in an area where both crows and ravens are present. I find more ravens in the mountains than down in the lowlands. They are quite distinguishable by their calls and size.

4. Owls benefit from crows by using their nests since owls do not build nests.

Ive had a life long interest in crows and ravens. I have your book, "In the Company of Crows and Ravens". When I walk my dogs, or go to a public garden or Arboretum I always bring a satchel of raw peanuts in the shell. In my neighborhood they recognize me and fly over to perch on a fence of tree and await their treats. I Love 'em!

1.  My husband caught a possum in a box trap in our backyard.  Three crows gathered on our back fence to taunt the poor creature.  They also hold their morning meetings in our pecan tree.  I love them.

3.  We do not live where there are both species, but our son does.  We've used INaturalist and Merlin to identify both species in the state park that's close to where he lives.

 

 

1. I would remind them that crows are themselves songbirds, and that songbird nestlings and fledglings (including those of crows) are susceptible to predation by many different species, crows being one of the least frequent, while squirrels (in our neck of the woods) are the most common offenders.  I would also try to get them interested in the cleverness of crows, tell them the stories about crows who bring gifts, crows who can mimic human speech, etc.

2. Here in Queens, NY, we have crows, but definitely not as many as I see in Los Angeles.  They mostly fly over our neighborhood (I think this is pigeon territory and it seems they might not be crazy about corvid visitors).  I've seen them in and around the parks (when I see them on the ground)- Corona Flushing Meadows, Kissena, and Forest Parks.  I've seen them more commonly further east in Brooklyn.  Twice, a crow visited my fire escape and took food from my hand- out of the blue.  I figured it may have been rehabilitated by the Wild Bird Fund or a similar situation, and learned people can equal food.  I know that some of the crows that I see are fish and not American crows.  I've looked but never been able to find a nest.

3. I have also seen ravens here.  Only ever one at a time, never a unkindness, whereas I see murders of crows regularly, albeit small.  The sounds are really unmistakable.  You may hear a crow and think, is that a crow or a raven?  But I find I never wonder if a raven call is a crow.  I haven't had a lot of chances to observe raven behavior, as they tend to be hounded even more than the crows by other birds, including crows.  Twice I've seen a small group of crows harassing a treed raven.  I've also seen blue jays and pigeons giving them a hard time.

4. I suppose any nest predator may benefit from having crows around.  A bobcat or coyote may be able to catch and kill an adult crow.  A crow may figure out how to get into a garbage can or dumpster, making the contents more accessible.

I've had the good fortune to watch crows work through 'problems' in their day to day existence.  My lunch breaks were often taken at a park that bordered a walnut orchard.  Near harvest time, I'd be greatly entertained by the crows as they'd pick up a walnut from the ground, fly up higher than the tree tops, then drop the nut on the pavement.  The bird would swoop down to retrieve the nut, and if the shell had not sufficiently cracked, it would fly straight up and repeat the process.   Often, the crow would then treat itself to the meal of fresh walnut meat, but sometimes it would take it to a grassy spot and bury the walnut to be retrieved later.  I never tired of watching them.

#3 - There's two of us doing this course together - me (Katie) and my partner Josh. We currently live in a place with both species in coastal British Columbia and love watching these funny creatures. We both grew up in Ontario near the edge of the raven's range, which is interesting because neither of us really remember seeing ravens. Josh's gut feeling was, "of course I've seen ravens" but he's wondering now if the black birds he was seeing growing up were mostly (exclusively?) crows.

1. I never knew that Crows would eat other birds, but if I did hear of someone complaining about the crow raiding a songbird nest, I can now correct them with some interesting facts about those adorable chipmunks and squirrels!

2. All over my neighborhood in Toluca Lake, CA and where I work as a teacher in Burbank, CA. Our science teacher tosses out peanuts every day for the crows who visit our high school campus, and I occasionally toss out some of my own. I have also installed a finch feeder recently near my door.

3. I do live where there are both. Before this course, I identified them only by size and that bigger bill on the raven.

The raven seems more solitary.

4. Controlling insects and alerting other birds to predators with their calls. I know they also call attention to carrion...sharing in the meal with other animals.

#1:    I’d say, “It’s a bird-eat-bird world out there!”   While nature accounts for this with its own checks and balances, I suppose it is possible that an abundance of any kind of predator could cause a population problem.  This is why data is collected and monitored for possible imbalances resulting in the decline in population of any species.   And if it isn’t a direct predator, its  decline may be due to human activity causing primary and even  secondary  unforeseen issues.  It’s complex.  So don’t blame the crows.  They are just doing what they have always done.

1. I recently took an opportunity to correct someone who assigned disproportionate blame for the taking and killing of songbirds. Since quite a few people I've encountered, including the person I corrected, are enamored with squirrels, I had to let her down gently about how much squirrels are really responsible for. It seems squirrels are often given a "free pass" because people find them cute. And I've encountered a seemingly common tendency, among people, to expect you to share their likes and dislikes, so I was careful in breaking the bad news.

2. I've seen crows in my neighborhood (as they know I'm the "peanut lady), in the neighborhood, and in the urban center.

3. Yes, both species can be found in my region. I can distinguish between them by size, tail shape, and calls. I expect to find crows hanging out together in groups more than ravens do.

4. Any birds or animals who listen for crows' alarm calls would benefit from being alerted potential predators lurking around.

1. I think the crows get blamed for all the trash on the ground in the parks but raccoons could also be to blame. I would say "I can see why you are concerned about crows but I think that cats and raccoons do more bird killing than crows". I live in Seattle and we have a nightly flyover of thousands of crows heading to the University of Washington Bothell campus to roost. My friend spends a lot of time studying them. She thinks there are "captains" in the flock who stay on the building until a certain number fly by and they direct traffic. I was so amazed that she spent time studying their behavior every night because I gloss over them.

We recently have had ravens coming west of the Cascade mountains to Seattle. The other birds including crows mob the ravens. The raven is so much bigger and I can see why crows etc think they are a threat.

I live in Gray, Georgia (middle of the state) and we have a family of crows that we have been watching and interacting with for several years here.  They always have their nest in the swamp below our home so this year we BOUGHT the 5 acres of swamp to better protect them and the habitat that is there too - we were worried that someone else would buy it and try to drain it.

The crows have learned that we will leave them food every morning when we feed the other birds at the seed feeders and that we sit out in the yard with our coffee - these days they realize that even though some people in the neighborhood shoot at them - that we DON'T and they will even bring their juvenile nestlings to eat the various offerings of fruit, nuts and seeds or mealworms that are available - about 40 feet away from us.  It is fascinating to watch them up close and see them preen, argue among themselves, play silly games with each other and other demonstrations of personality and intelligence and family interactions.

We have an organic pasture for our horses - we compost horse manure in the fall and winter and spread it on the pastures - thus we have a HUGE population of grubs for the dung beetles (active in the summer and spring), june beetles and cicadas - when it rains they are ALL OVER our pastures hunting for the grubs!  You can watch them up close looking for the minute telltales of a grub then snatch it up.

thank you for the course - it is great to know that the educational opportunities are here for everyone! we LOVE crows!  A few years ago we had a red shouldered hawk (also has a yearly nest in the swamp) land in our yard after a prey item, and a crow was trying to steal it - I got a quick photo with my phone!

1. If I had a neighbor complaining about crows eating nestlings, first I would acknowledge that they do sometimes eat nestling.  However, I would point out that it is not is main food source.  Snakes and squirrels of all varieties are the largest predators of nestlings.  In addition, animals such as raccoons also eat baby birds, as well as other birds such as jays and owls.  Crows acturally eat about as many nestling as white-tailed deer which is not very many.

3.  I live in Ohio, so we have crows but no ravens.  In fact, I did not realize that ravens were common in parts of North America.  I associate them with England and the  Tower of London.  So I have already learned something new.

I live in central New Jersey.  We have both Fish and American Crows as well as Common Ravens.  They all nest near where I'm located.  A few years ago Fish Crows nested in a White Pine tree across the street from my house.  Alas, that tree is now gone.  American Crows have nested in a White Pine tree down the block from my house.  The Common Ravens sometimes visit or fly over my house.  I discovered they nested on a radio tower belonging to the local police department in the next town.  (They used to nest in a quarry less than 10 miles from here but the quarry operations have now destroyed the cliff where they nested.)  As I bird by ear the calls of both crows and the raven are very distinct and unmistakable to me.

I like these questions

1.I would suggest to the neighbor that human interference with native bird populations should truly be a last resort. If they are finding that songbirds are at a loss of suitable habitat and are being over-predated due to this, local conservation or restoration of the birds' habitat would be a great place to start.

2. I have seen Crows in various places across the US, they are welcome neighbors from Michigan to Washington. In the southeastern US I have seen more Fish Crows than American Crows.

3. I do not live near Ravens' habitat but I am always shocked by their large size when I travel into their range.

4. Crows are vital to the plants and animals across their habitat. Their caching behavior ensures a large spread of seedlings like Oaks, whose seeds otherwise do not travel far. Other birds may rely on the safety in numbers of Crows. Their large family size means there are more eyes (and noise) to alert surrounding species to predators and other danger. Crows are frequently seen hazing hawks and other raptors which momentarily allows for smaller animals to escape to safety. They are a keystone species that helps maintain equilibrium to their habitat.

1. I would tell them that there are many other, more proficient, baby bird killers and that in all honesty it is simply nature

3. I live on the edge of the ravens range, if I travel about 2 hours north they are common, however we do get them down this way on occasion and there are a few known populations of them in the area.

4. When I first got chickens I was told that if you invite the crows to hang around you'll have less hawk predation on your free range chickens, I have seen this to be true. The crows often times chase the hawks out of the area.

1. Yes, crows will kill and feed songbird nestlings to their young if given the opportunity, but squirrel/chipmunk and snake populations are bigger threats.

2. I live in Nova Scotia, Canada where we see crows all the time.  We are fortunate to watch nesting activities almost each spring (20 years off and on) as there is a nest in a large tree in our neighbour’s yard.  The crows are extremely quiet throughout the nesting period but that all changes when the babies fledge.  We’ve often loaned umbrellas to people walking down our street to protect them from being  “bombed” by crow parents and aunties!

3.  I live in an area where both crows and ravens live, although ravens are rare. Crows often surround and harass single ravens, cawing loudly.  Recently however, in the late fall early winter, I  saw a group of 4 or 5 ravens (unusual), take turns pulling apart the crow’s nest in our neighbour’s tree while the others excitedly ronked on encouraging the behaviour it seemed.  The crows were not impressed.  I’m waiting to see if they rebuild their nest or if the ravens will take over.

4.  Crows can provide nesting sites for large birds.  They also distribute seeds from helpful plants.

 

1. In reality, crows are very low on the list of animals predating on songbird nests.  Squirrels and chipmunks are much more of a threat to the nests.

2.

I really like and appreciate crows, as I do all native birds. This lesson addressed the myth that crows eat an outsized number of baby birds compared to other predators. While it's good to dispel such myths and learn the facts, I did want to mention something I recently learned, which is that the success of "subsidized" corvids (crows and ravens that benefit from being around humans) is causing hyperpredation of turtles and tortoises (see Hyperpredation of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises by Subsidized Corvids | Herpetological Monographs (allenpress.com)). Those of us taking this course obviously love birds, but if you don't know much about turtles, they have it really rough! Reasons include that because they move slowly, they're easily killed by many things (natural predators, cars, humans), 70% of illegal wildlife trade is in reptiles and amphibians, and turtles take a very long time to reach sexual maturity (something like 4-20 years, depending on species). They are very vulnerable animals.

I thought this was just interesting to know, but also a good reminder that it's generally best for humans not to interfere in natural processes by "subsidizing" certain species, since we don't fully understand the downstream impacts on other creatures in the ecosystem (and yes, I understand our activities do more damage than any other species!). The best way to support animals is by creating rich habitat (if you have space to do so) with native plants that provide food, cover, and sites to rest, reproduce and nest, which benefits all animals. I'm not being preachy if you choose to feed birds, just encouraging folks to support all animals if possible, which allows nature to better do its job of keeping things in balance :).

1. You may think that crows kill most of the nestling birds, but a study shows that squirrels and snakes are the murderer for more than half of the killed nestlings, while crows only kill a fraction. Additionally, crows eat and kill so they can survive, and us as humans also kill and eat baby animals such as lambs.

3.I do live somewhere where crows and Ravens are both present, though Ravens are rarer. While standing, Ravens are larger and they have shiny throat feathers, while crows are smaller and dull in comparison; while flying Ravens give a more pointed look with pointed wings, tails, and beak, whereas crows are more rounded. In my opinion, crows and Ravens give a different kind of feeling, crows seem to be a shy observer and a Raven looks bulkier.

4.Plants, raptors and the whole ecosystem benefits from crows. Crows distribute seeds and provided nesting sites for raptors, since crows are not an invasive species, they consume and are been consumed which keeps the ecosystem in balance.

1. Oh no snakes and squirrels kill them much more than crows do.

2/3. California. In cities they r all crows and in suburban area they r all ravens. I find the size difference the easiest way to tell them apart. But I am amazed how ravens can survive in California hot desert and at the same time alaska.

4. Other birds/squirrels, who can benefit from crows' alarm calls.

I live in the suburbs of Philadelphia. We have quite a few crows, but also have fish crows. I have been trying to make friends with them for sometime. I am absolutely enamored by crows.

 

I feed them peanuts every day. However, there is a competition with the Blue Jays. However, the crows are getting more and more accustomed to coming up on our porch.

 

Here in Flagstaff, AZ, we get both crows and ravens. I feel like I'm pretty good at telling them apart, but I think the tail shapes in flight aren't always as different as you may think.

I love both kinds of these birds!