Common Raven

Common Raven

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

The largest of the songbirds, the Common Raven is one of the most widespread species in the world, found across North America and Eurasia, southward into Central America and northern Africa. Perhaps the smartest of all birds, the raven can survive in Arctic, temperate, and desert environments.

Cool Facts

• The Common Raven is an acrobatic flier. It frequently is seen to make rolls and somersaults in the air. It has even been observed flying upside down for as far as one kilometer (0.62 mi).

• Breeding pairs of Common Ravens hold territories and try to exclude all other ravens throughout the year. In winter, young ravens finding a carcass will call other ravens to the prize. They apparently do this to overwhelm the local territory owners by force of numbers to gain access to the food.

• The Common Raven often uses sheep wool to line its nest. When the female leaves the nest for a while she may cover the eggs with the wool.

• Increasing raven populations can have significant negative effects on the populations of some vulnerable prey species, such as desert tortoises and Least Terns. Ravens can cause trouble for people too. Ravens have been implicated in causing power outages by contaminating insulators on power lines, fouling satellite dishes at the Goldstone Deep Space Site, peeling radar absorbent material off buildings at the Chinal Lake Naval Weapons center, pecking holes in airplane wings, and stealing golf balls.

Description

• Size: 56-69 cm (22-27 in)
• Wingspan: 116-118 cm (46-46 in)
• Weight: 689-1625 g (24.32-57.36 ounces)

• Very large crow.
• All glossy black.

• Relatively long, slightly curved bill.
• Long, graduated or wedge-shaped tail.
• Long pointed wings with obvious separation of primaries while soaring.
• Elongated throat feathers.

Sex Differences

Sexes alike in plumage, but male slightly larger on average.

Immature

Juvenile similar to adult, but head and back feathers not glossy. Flight feathers become brown with wear.

Similar Species

• American and Northwestern crows are smaller, have rounded or square tails, and very different voices.
• Chihuahuan Raven is smaller, has a shorter bill with longer nasal bristles, a different voice, and whitish, not gray, bases to the body feathers.

  Sound

  Common call a deep croak or hoarse "rrronk." Also a variety of sounds, including knocks and bell-like notes.

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  Range

  Range Map
  
  
  

  © 2003 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

  About the map

  Summer Range

  Resident throughout Alaska and Canada, including the high arctic, southward through the western states into Central America. Present in the northern United States and southward in the Appalachians to extreme northern Georgia.

  Habitat

  Found in a broad range of habitats, including tundra, boreal forest, coniferous and deciduous forests, prairie and grassland, deserts, sea coasts, agricultural fields, towns, and cities. Prefers areas with cliffs for nesting.

  Food

  Omnivorous. Eats meat, eggs, insects, grain, fruit, garbage, and carrion.

  Behavior

  Foraging

  Follows predators to scavenge on leftovers. Patrols roadways for carrion.

  Reproduction

  Nest Type

  Nest a basket of large sticks with an inner cup woven of smaller twigs, lined with mud, grasses, and fur or wool. Placed most frequently on cliff or in tree, but also on powerline pole, abandoned car, communication tower, or a building.

  Egg Description

  Green to blue with blotches and streaks of brown.

  Clutch Size

  3-7 eggs.

  Condition at Hatching

  Helpless and naked or with sparse down.

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  Conservation Status

  The Common Raven had nearly disappeared from the northeastern United States in the early part of the 20th century. Its numbers in that area increased markedly in the last half of the century, and it is reoccupying much of its former range. Because of small population sizes in much of the East, it is listed as endangered or threatened in a number of states. Populations have been increasing all across the range, especially in the West where it has taken advantage of human-modified habitats.

  Other Names

  Grand corbeau (French)
  Cuervo cumún, Cuervo grande (Spanish)
  

  Sources used to construct this page:

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  Boarman, W. I., and B. Heinrich. 1999. Common Raven (Corvus corax). In The Birds of North America, No. 476 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

   
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