Australia’s five species of corvids all have their own special features, including the wood raven. (Image credit: Andrew Silcocks, Birdlife Australia)
“Ah…ah…ah.”
No outback scene would be complete without the calls of corvids.
Corvidae are birds belonging to the family Corvidae, including crows and ravens in Australia.
Their calls, like the incessant buzz of a billion insects, are the background music of rural Australia.
However, the owner of this mournful rattle is often misidentified.
This is not the call of a crow, but the call of an Australian raven. They are not the same.
Telling the difference
According to Sean Dooley of BirdLife Australia, there are five species of corvids native to Australia.
Three of them are ravens and two are crows. They are very closely related and difficult to tell apart based on appearance alone.
View image of The most common cry heard in Australia is actually the call of the raven. (Credit: Peter Rowland)
Mr Dooley said crows and ravens could be distinguished by the size of the bird, subtle vocal clues and geographical location.
“Location, location, location” is the most useful clue.
“Each capital city has a different dominant species, so if you’re in Perth, Sydney or Canberra, the main corvid you’ll see is the Australian Raven,” he said.
“In fact, it’s the only one you’ll see in Perth.”
Lesser ravens are dominant in Melbourne and Adelaide, wood ravens are dominant in Hobart, and Torres ravens are dominant in Brisbane and Darwin.
Mr Dooley said subtle visual cues might also help.
“For example, people generally think that crows are large.
“The only reliable difference really lies in the color of the down at the base of the feathers: crows have white down, while ravens tend to have brown down.
“You can only see this if you catch a crow and blow its feathers, or if you look closely on a windy day.
“They have different body shapes and some feathers around the head and neck, but the most obvious difference between Australia’s five species of crows and ravens is their geographic range.”
Distinctive calls
Although it can be difficult to identify birds by sight, listening for their distinctive calls is a relatively reliable way to tell them apart.
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While all five species share a discordant guttural sound that would never have won a bird song contest, each species’ song has its own unique twists.
Mr Dooley said: “The typical Australian raven call is the most distinctive, with three or four notes that go up in pitch and then down at the end.
“It’s the call most reminiscent of an Australian crow.
“In contrast, the standard call of the Torres crow has a sound similar to the quacking of a duck.
“This small crow resembles the Torres crow, but has a more nasal and flat voice. Someone once described it as sounding like an American accent.
“The call of the Lesser Crow is more varied, but more of a one-note repetition, and a little deeper than the Australian Crow.
“The call of the forest raven is very low, almost roaring, which is what makes it unique.”
View image of Although Australia’s crows have a fairly wide range, these birds are mainly found in northern Australia. (Credit: Peter Rowland)
A bad rap
Few Australian animals are better adapted to Australia’s favourable environment.
Corvids are skilled and efficient flyers, able to cover great distances without expending much energy.
All Australian corvids have a striking “basic black” coloration, but it also has a cooling effect. The outer feathers absorb heat and insulate the bird from its skin.
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The intelligence of corvids is at the highest level in the bird kingdom, comparable to or even exceeding that of parrots and cockatoos.
“I don’t want to overly anthropomorphize birds or other animals because it’s very different, but you can compare the density of bird brains,” Mr. Dooley said.
“A large body of research on avian intelligence has focused on various species of crows, particularly the New Caledonian crow (Corvus moneduloides), which is known for its tool-making abilities.
“They can make tools to help make other tools, which takes them to a higher level in terms of puzzle-solving ability.
“Some believe that crows have the intelligence equivalent of a seven-year-old child in solving cognitive problems.
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“They can solve puzzles in more than 14 steps, and studies have shown that they have amazing long-term memory as well as what we call working memory.
“There have also been tests showing that corvids can count to at least 16 or 17.”
Despite their relative intelligence and complex behaviour, corvids are not well-liked, and Mr Dooley said the dire portrayal of them as harbingers of doom was unfair.
“It seems like we humans harbor an aversion to other successful animals. It’s almost as if we resent dominance by any other animal,” he said.
“They are known for killing lambs, but researchers conducting scientific studies have found that they are simply taking advantage of animals that are already dead or dying.”
Australian crows and ravens (Family: Corvidae)
Australia’s five species of crows and ravens can be difficult to tell apart, especially where their territories overlap.
Peter Rowland, author of A Nature’s Guide to Australian Birds, provides the following observation notes:
Australian raven (Corvus coronoides)
The plumage has a distinct purplish-blue or green sheen. The neck feathers are long and lance-shaped, forming a floppy “beard”. Adults have a patch of bare black skin at the base of the mandible and on either side of the chin (pink in juveniles). Widespread across central and eastern Australia, but also found in southern South Australia and southeastern Western Australia.
Little raven (Corvus mellori)
The neck feathers are short, forked, and spiky when singing. It is found in southeastern Australia, from northern New South Wales, through Victoria to central and northern South Australia, and is the “default” corvid in Melbourne and Adelaide.
Forest raven (Corvus tasmanicus)
The largest species, large, slow-flying and clumsy. The only species in Tasmania (also found in southern Victoria, southeastern South Australia and northeastern New South Wales), it is the ‘default’ corvid in Hobart.
Torresian crow (Corvus orru)
Larger than a small crow, with a prominent ruff at the throat, easily confused with a raven. Plumage has a distinct iridescent sheen, but more subtle than that of the Australian Raven. Widespread over the northern two-thirds of Australia and New Guinea. The ‘default’ corvid in Brisbane, Darwin and Cairns.
Little crow (Corvus bennetti)
The smallest of the corvids. Has a relatively short bill and small throat ruff. Widespread in drier parts of mainland Australia, but not the ‘default’ corvid in any capital.