Australian Raven Image from: John Gould (1804-81) The birds of Australia 1840-48. 7 vols. 600 plates Artists: J. Gould and E. Gould; Lithographer: E. Gould. Family: Corvidae
Description There are six members of this family found in Australia, five native breeding species and one infrequent self-introduction. Three are called crows and three ravens, although there is really little difference. Most Australian species are similar in size and colouration, and can be difficult to tell apart. In some cases, identification is aided by the separate ranges of different species, but differences in plumage, habits and calls offer good clues for distinguishing them. The bases of the feathers of the crows are white, while those of the ravens are grey, although this characteristic is perhaps only of benefit if birds are held in the hand or if discarded feathers are found.
The Australian Raven, Corvus coronoides, is 52 cm. The feathers on the throat (hackles) are longer than in other species, and a bird tends to extend these when calling, while holding its head and body in a horizontal position. The territorial call is a slow, rather high "ah-ah-ah-aaaah" with the last note drawn out. Australian Ravens are usually seen in pairs. Another aid to identification of this species is the absence of wing-flicking while calling.
The Forest Raven, C. tasmanicus, is the about same size as the Australian Raven, but has a larger bill and shorter tail. The call is a deep "kor-kor-kor-korrrr", with the last note drawn out. Adult Forest Ravens tend to keep to solitary pairs and stay in the same region for much of the year, while younger birds form nomadic flocks.
The Little Raven, C. mellori, is slightly smaller than the two other ravens, being 50 cm in length. Its medium length throat hackles are not extended during calling. This species is quite sociable, sometimes forming large flocks. Its call is a much quicker "kar-kar-kar", and the wings are flicked with each note.
The call of the Torresian Crow, C. orru, is "uk-uk-uk-uk". Although not flicking its wings when calling, it repeatedly shuffles them after landing. The hackles are raised when calling. It is roughly the same size as the Little Raven.
The Little Crow, C. bennetti, is about 48 cm in length. It has a bill shorter than the head and gives a nasal "nark-nark-nark" call. Like the Australian Raven, it does not flick its wings when calling.
These five species are black with white eyes in adults. Young birds have brown eyes. The House Crow, C. splendens, is an occasional straggler from south-east Asia to Australia's southwest and southeast. It is mostly black with a broad grey-brown band around the neck and breast, and a brown eye in adults. It is the smallest of the six species (43 cm).
Young birds resemble the adults in all species, but have dark eyes, shorter throat hackles and often the presence of a pink, fleshy gape.
Distribution and Habitat Crows and ravens are found throughout Australia, in all habitat types, with the exception of the more arid areas of Western Australia. The Australian Raven is found in eastern, southern and central Australia. The Forest Raven is the only member of the family found in Tasmania, and is also found in restricted areas of south Victoria, southeast South Australia and the mid north coast and highlands of eastern New South Wales. The Little Raven is restricted to the south-east of the mainland and some offshore islands. Both the Little and Torresian Crows are wide-ranging over the Australian mainland, with the Little Crow preferring the drier regions and the Torresian Crow being absent from the south. The House Crow is occasionally self-introduced on ships and is found ports.
Food and feeding All species of this family have a wide-ranging diet. Food may consist of grains, fruits, insects, small animals, eggs, refuse and carrion. Both the Australian and Forest Ravens are mainly carnivorous, while the Little Raven takes more insect prey. The Little Crow feeds more on live prey than the other species and the Torresian Crow prefers grains. The House Crow doesn't appear to show a preference for any single food type, and is a successful scavenger. One concern with the possible establishment of the House Crow in Australia, is its record as a pest of crops.
References Pizzey, G. & Knight, F. 1997. Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Angus and Robertson, Sydney. Schodde, R. & Tideman, S.C. (eds) 1990. Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds (2nd Edition). Reader's Digest (Australia) Pty Ltd, Sydney. Strahan, R. (ed) 1996. Finches, Bowerbirds & Other Passerines of Australia. Angus and Robertson and the National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife, Sydney. What's in a name: the difference between crows and ravens There is no clear difference between crows and ravens other than, by tradition, in any particular location, ravens are larger than the crows. This size difference sort of holds in Australia: the Australian Raven Corvus coronoides and Forest Raven C. tasmanicus are the largest species; the Little Crow C. bennetti is the smallest; and the Little Raven C. mellori and Torresian Crow C. orru are about the same intermediate size. Ravens also have grey bases to the black body feathers (white in the crows) and longer feathers (hackles) on the throat. Other than these, there are few obvious consistent differences.
This conventional division of ravens and crows derives from the situation in England, where there are four species of these black birds. Two have typical black coloration - the large Common Raven C. corax and medium-sized Carrion Crow C. corone - and two smaller species have more distinctive appearances - the Rook C. frugilegus, with its naked face, and the diminutive Jackdaw C. monedula, with its grey head. There are few counterparts of the latter two species elsewhere in the world, and where two or more related birds occur together in other places, they generally resemble the typical English Raven and Crow, not the more distinctive species.
Like so many the names of so many English birds, "crow" and "raven" were applied to different species that were reminiscent of the original name-bearers. Thus, in a new locality, the larger black bird(s) were called ravens, and the smaller ones, crows. This does not imply that various types of ravens are more related to each other than any is to one of the crows. In fact, it appears that the five native Australian species form a natural group whose members are closer to each other than they are to either crows or ravens on other continents. Indeed, our rather moderately-sized ravens would probably only rate as crows in some other countries.
