focus... What is the difference between a
raven and a crow I love to see people pay attention to the Ravens but I get
asked is that a raven or a crow everywhere I go so I'm going to show you
how to tell the difference between the two birds even when they're high in the
sky! One of the smartest things I did when I was learning to become a chef was
I took the time to become a sommelier also if you saw the movie "Somm" you saw
we learned a meticulous method to not only tell the difference between the
different grape varieties and the regions they come from, we use all of our
senses to be able to look for the minut differences even between grapes grown on
the valley floor, and those grown on a hillside so here I've put together
something similar to help you tell the difference between a raven and a crow in the western United States the two I
work with most are the common Raven and the American crow. Now we're just going
to start with the adult birds we'll start by looking at the size and shape
of the body beak wings and tail and then we'll consider its actions while its
landing sitting and flying. Next we'll listen to the birds various sounds and
calls and then that'll help you come to the conclusion is this a raven or a crow. Let's start with size, buy when looking at the birds you can see side-by-side
it's an obvious difference but rarely do you see them side-by-side in the wild. A crow weighs about a pound to a pound and a half and a raven is about three pounds
almost twice the size. Also pay attention to the bill or the beak. You notice the
crow's is smaller and sharper where a raven's is larger and thicker. Also a raven many
times will have a hook on the end of its beak a crow (usually) will not. Now when they're
flying in the sky or above you you'll see the Raven is much thicker with a
wingspan of 46 to 54 inches a crow has a wingspan of only 32 to about 38 inches. As a crow is coming at you watch the tail, and then the Ravens tail it's more
diamond shape where a crows seems cut off and may have a little nick in it. A
raven also has thick throat hackles that a crow does not have. Now let's look at
the actions a crow when it lands seems far more nervous will flit us feathers
and we'll bob up and down. When a raven lands it's much more secure
there are exceptions, in high winds a raven will land and will adjust itself
to the high winds appear like its flitting but actually it's just gaining
its balance. Also notice when a crow is making its call it will bob up and down
as it does so. When a raven makes its call it usually just kind of leans
forward and kind of flaps its wings up and down in very short motions like this. When the birds are flying you'll notice that a crow does a lot more flapping of
its wings, that's because it cannot soar the way a raven does. When a Raven is in
the air, if it can it will soar and it's a beauty to watch and here we use the
Grand Canyon and a number of Ravens to show you what a raven can do! Now crows may glide as they're
descending down to the ground but for the most part they cannot soar and they
certainly can't catch the thermals and go high in the air the way a raven will. You may also notice when a crow is making a lot of racket in the air it's
trying to drive out an intruder in its area. Notice the crow dive-bombs its
opponent and ravens take great pride in getting crows to chase them. The crows
will do this with hawks also. Now when a raven has an intruder in the area, it
tends to escort it out flying with it rather than dive-bombing it. Now to me
this is the most important part, listen, because Ravens don't speak crow. Crows
make a caw caw caw and that's their number-one call. Listen to them when they
get together as a group... Notice the crows pitch is much higher. Listen in this next segment, and you'll hear crows clicking and cawing, and
one Raven going kronk, kronk, kronk... See to me crow sounds very
different than Ravens. And here's the one Raven again... Ravens are also known to
make a much larger variety of sounds. A raven
pushes a lot of wind with its wings so its wings will actually make sound when
it's going over your head. A crow will (generally) not do this... listen... Okay one last thing and this is one of
my favorites because I have never seen a crow make this move. A raven will fold
its wings and drop upside down sometimes for hundreds of feet. Both the male and
female Ravens do this, sometimes right after one another, and sometimes in
unison. In high winds they'll repeat this move over and over again, drop again
thank you very much, that was like perfect! Two other birds that can be
confusing, are the juvenile Ravens and the turkey vultures. Ravens when
they're young tend to act more like crows, so therefore it could be quite
confusing not only that their feathers aren't grown out all the way so they
don't seem quite as big as an adult Raven. However I find the sounds
different, much more screamish than the crows caw caw caw. But addition to the sound
the size and the pink mouth are a dead giveaway it's a juvenile Raven. And then
there's the turkey vulture. Of course on the ground it doesn't look anything like
a raven, high up in the sky sometimes it can fool you at first, but if you watch
turkey vultures tend to rock, they have lighter colored feathers underneath and
their head appears small. So in review Ravens are bigger, their beak is thicker, their wingspan is longer, their tail has
more of a wedge or a diamond shape, a Ravens actions are more calm. Crow
appears more nervous. When flying the crow flaps and Yaks. A Raven does a
lot more soaring. He's the one that's gonna catch the thermals and ride them
high into the sky. Whereas a crow would have to flap to get that high. And
finally take time to listen to them. The crow, for the most part is pretty
limited to his caw caw caw caw caw which is his most common call, and also the
clicking sound. Now that will make more sounds and especially the young ones but
for the most part they'll never make the same types of sounds that Ravens make. (Raven calling, rock rock rock...) Thank you! (clicking sound) Something else? (gurgling sound) Gonna talk to me? What do yo have to say? Just know that both young
Ravens and young crows will chatter and make sounds like these (raspy guttural sounds...) And then just let me leave you with a
quick one of a baby crow, an adult crow, and a raven all together! (Baby crow cry, adult crow cawing, raven kronk, kronk) Would you get that crow? hmm? Would you get that
crow? (Both birds call at same time) Perfect... Caw and a rock, great difference between the two, hey bud thank you! Test your knowledge with our raven and crow test. You can
see more of our videos and learn much more about the common Raven on both our
Vimeo channel, and our YouTube. Check out the Raven Diaries. Our numerous books and movies and then get out in the wild and enjoy these
magnificent Birds! What are you doing huh? You going to dive for me? Dive for me in that pretty sun? There we go ... perfect... Thank you!
Here’s the thing...
I watched 10 minutes of a neat video for a skill I will most likely never use... Since these birds are non-existent in South America where I live.
The difference is that the one is a Raven, and the other one is a Crow. Mkay?
No one ever quoths a crow