What's the difference between a Crow and a Raven?

Often, I wonder how you can discern crows from ravens. I can recognize crows easily enough, but when it comes to ravens, the discrepancies between the two are hard to spot. I don't always see ravens, and when I do, it is from a distance, and I don't have enough experience to identify them. But, after watching a terrific documentary on PBS, I'm beginning to recognize the differences between the two birds. It's easy to see how people can get them mixed up, they're both black, with long beaks and noisy at times. The crow is in the genus Corvus as is the raven, they might as well be the same bird, but they are not.

Bird watching is a great activity, especially for families. You can spot birds almost anywhere, such as, parks, woods, lakes, cities and residential neighborhoods. Maybe that's why it is so popular, birds are easy to access, and you don't have to hike into the deep forests to find a bird. You can set up a bird feeder or two in your backyard and watch the wildlife come to you. Although, other wildlife, that can adapt to human surroundings, will pass through your yard too. But, none are so easy to watch as flying and soaring birds. Birds have captured our imagination for generations, instilling people with the desire to fly. Who wouldn't want to fly and be able to escape predators with a leap into the sky or cover vast tracts of land on soaring wings?

I enjoy bird watching and around our house, in the Seattle area, it's not uncommon for me to see song birds at and around our backyard feeder like, Chickadees, Flickers, Golden Crowned Sparrows, Bushtits, Nuthatches, and White Crowned Sparrows. The feeder also attracts predators such as, Merlins, Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks. The hawks are very hard to tell apart so I'm not sure if I am seeing both species or just one. It's great fun to watch a hawk sitting in a tree and then see it swoop down chasing prey.

And, of course, we have many crows. We get ravens too, although I don't recall seeing them in my neighborhood. The call of the raven is different from a crow and I'm pretty sure I have never heard it in our neighborhood. When I travel outside my town, I encounter more ravens, and they are so much bigger and sound different than a crow. Here are a few differences I have noted between crows and ravens. I'm no expert, this is just what I have observed, check the All About Birds website for more information.

First of all, crows are a small pigeon sized bird and ravens are about the size of a large hawk. Crows are much more slender with a small beak, and ravens are bulkier with a large beak. From listening to both birds, the call of the crow ranges from a high, loud "caw", whereas the raven has a deeper, muffled "caw." Although, from what I have learned, crows seem to have a much wider range and sometimes can sound like a child crying or yelling.

Ravens have a wedge shaped tail and are very smart and have been known to follow wolf packs and scavenge for scraps from recent kills. Crows are one of the smartest animals in the world and can mimic human voices and recognize faces, as shown in this study done in Seattle, and crows can use tools. In this documentary, the crows are given complex tasks to perform to retrieve food. They are great problem solvers. The documentary "A Murder of Crows", about the Seattle crows, is well worth watching.

I remember one summer, when my daughter and I were preparing to eat our lunch outside on the patio, I had placed her plate of food with a bagel and some fruit on the table, and went inside to grab something else. When I came back out the entire bagel was gone, a crow had stolen it! There were some crows hanging out in our backyard, but I didn't think they would be so bold as to swoop down and steal food off of her plate. Pretty gutsy! They had obviously been watching us and took a chance when they spotted one.

If you would like to learn more about crows and ravens, I would definitely check out the Nature series or just watch them in your own backyard and make your own observations. Maybe they will steal food from you too!

Fisher, Chris C. Birds of Seattle and Puget Sound. Canada: Lone Pine Publishing, 1996. Print

Tekiela, Stan. Birds of Washington Field Guide. Cambridge, MN: Adventure Publications, Inc., 2001. Print