When
I speak of ravens or crows to people, often they want to know what
difference exists between the two. Usually, they know of a size
difference, but want to know how else to differentiate the two.
Therfore below, are listed some of the defining physical differences,
social/behavioral deffences, as well as some expert thoughts and
perceptions on the American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) and common raven (Corvus corax).
"To
get at the mind of a crow is a great challenge, but to get in the mind
of a raven, as I found in living with one for a year, is an even
greater one. Ravens are, to enthusiasts like myself, at the top of the
avian pyramid in mental attributes."
-L. Kilham from "The American Crow and
Common Raven"
"Given
the tendency of corvids to be large, intelligent, adaptable,
ground-foraging birds independent of trees, it is probably only a
slight exaggeration to say that the raven (C. corax) is the ultimate
Corvid. If so, it is also at the top of the most species-rich and
rapidly evolving line of the birds. Is is the ne plus ultra of
up-and-comming birds."
-Bernd Heinriech from "Ravens in Winter"
Physical Differences: Crows average around 17 inches long, and ravens about 24-27.
A raven weighs about four times that of a crow.
Crows have a wing span around 2.5 ft., and ravens about 3.5-4 ft.
A raven's wing sometimes makes a prominent "swish, swish" sound, while a crow's wingbeat is usually silient.
Ravens have pointed wings, while crows have a more blunt and splayed wing tip.
Crows have a fan-shaped tail (squared-off), while raven tails are long and wege-shaped.
Besides having a bigger, more powerful bill, a raven's bill is
curved, while a crow has a more-or-less flat bill. Additionally, atop a
raven's bill is a tuft of hairs absent on crows.
As a result of being larger and more
powerful, ravens are the more efficient predator. (Predation is a very
small percentage of crow and raven diets.)
Range/adaptive skills: While
both crows and ravens have experienced persecution in the eastern
United States, the crow managed to adapt and increase in numbers, while
the ravens greatly declined (although recently the raven is making a
comeback in places like Maryland). B.Heinriech says this may be due, in
part, to the raven's propensity to reuse nest sites, which are easy to
find and destroy. Additionally, ravens, utilizing carrion more than
crows, probably disappeared along with the wolves and buffalo. Poisons
to rid wolves from the landscape also contributed. Agriculture,
however, increased in the east, increasing the crow's food base and
ability to increase in numbers.
Crows are more at home in the urban landscape, given their ability to be more socially inclined than ravens.
Diet:
While both are commited to being vociferous omnivores, ravens are drawn
to carrion (especially sheep), while crows may be less picky.
Ravens probably find food faster in
the wild, considering anecdotes from tappers about how fast ravens
could find the carrion in their traps.
Vocalizations: For the sake of basic reference, a crow's call is a "caw" and a raven's is a low and slow croak.
Crows exhibit at least two dozen
differnt calls, while ravens can express themselves with 20-100's of
different vocalizations, depending on the expert cited.
Interspecies relations/behavior: L.Kilham, from The American Crow and the Common Raven
(1989)wrote that he observed ravens repeatedly chasing crows from a
feeding station, always resulting in the crow dropping the cache. This
would unnerve th crows to no-end; causing them to gather at a roost and
caw vehemently, yet they still repeated the cycle.
Jollie (1976) stated that ravens
seldomly attack crows because crows can outmaneuver and outclimb them.
However, Kilham observed the opposite to be true at the New Hampshire
farm study site, where the ravens outmaneuvered the crows in the forest
and well as in the open.
Kilham observed crows doing fewer jump-backs when approaching food.
Ravens are more cautious or less audacious. (Jump-backs are reactions
that crows and ravens do in times of caution, possibly testing for a
reaction from the possible food source.) Furthermore, Conner (1975)
noted that ravens would not approach a landfill until there were at
least four crows present. After awhile if no crows were present, they
would use their own lookouts. Several accounts exist of ravens using
crows as their sentinels.
While subjective, limited, and hard to extrapolate from, Kilham's
hand-raised raven liked being indoors much more than the hand-raised
crow. Additionally, h noted that the raven liked low place (chairs,
counters) while the crow liked higher spots such such as atop a door.
Ravens at times will fly wing-to-wing with their mate, with the females just below the males.
Science: Bernd Heinrich, an academic field biologist,
spent four consecutive winters at a cabin in Maine watching ravens at
feed stations, attempting to fill-in a piece of the puzzle to a
question concerning an obvious paradox he witnessed with the ravens.
The question that pervaded his mind occured while he was doing some
work on bees: He had observed ravens at a carcass "sharing" the prized
meat and wondered why a pair of ravens would not defend such a prize at
a time when meat supply was scarce. The logical, and proper
evolutionary response would seem contrary, with the discovers
indignantly fending-off other prospective takers.
After his four winters of observation
and eperimentation, he learned that the raven's (unmated juveniles)
possibly "recruit" others to a food source because, by sharing with
others it gains "friends," from which it may gain a mate from in the
future due to its foraging abilities. While mated pairs are
more-or-less anchored to their localized nesting area; low status
juveniles are left to form wondering unmated "gangs." Thus, mated pairs
would not benifit from "recruiting" others to a food source, and
likewise, juveniles are careful not to tip-off dominant mated adults.
More information can be obtained from Ravens in Winter, by Bernd Heinrich (1989).