Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

A question about Corvids

181 replies

MonumentalLentil · 16/03/2023 21:19

I thought the various sizes of identical looking birds in the garden were crows. They have a lighter patch on the back of the neck.

However, there are now some really, really big black birds with big black beaks which I think are ravens, no lighter patches, beautiful birds and they bounce along sideways.

(There are also blackbirds which I know are not Corvids (thrush family) and I know they are really blackbirds).

I have looked them up but it seems I am not alone in this failure to identify correctly.

Assuming the big ones are ravens, can someone help with the crows or are they rooks or what?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
34
BoreOfWhabylon · 17/03/2023 14:30

@MeinKraft Oh, I'd forgotten the Argos raven! Thanks for reminding me. Happy days! Grin

And @SinnerBoy it's such a shame the photos are no longer visible. In the Olden Days of Mumsnet we could attach pics to our user profiles but all that has gone now.

SinnerBoy · 17/03/2023 14:31

Yes, the only pictures available are on flickr, but not the bird in question.

Nimbostratus100 · 17/03/2023 14:33

PureGrit · 17/03/2023 11:23

There's no need for complex analysis of tail shape and beak detail for ravens, they are the size of a bloody goose! And with a call that wakes up the bit of your brain that warns you you're being stalked by a dinosaur.

Based on the number of times I’ve heard people call a crow a raven, I beg to differ. I come across ravens regularly where I live, but unless they actually make a sound, I like to check a few of the signs before calling them ravens. It’s really not that easy to tell them apart, unless you’re very close to them.

My own fun raven anecdote is that once, when I was up in the mountains, I came across two ravens doing all sorts of aerial acrobatics. When I turned round to go home, they followed me for a few miles and made me part of their game. They flew either side of me in a zig-zag pattern and used my location as the reference point for where to cross. I tried walking faster, I tried walking slower and each time I did, they adjusted their flight pattern to make sure they were still crossing exactly above my head. When they finally got bored, they flew off into the distance, pulling off some more impossible looking “raven moves”

awesome!

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Other pets & animals
BoreOfWhabylon · 17/03/2023 14:36

@SinnerBoy there was much further talk and regaling of the adventures of Mortimer. Again, in the Olden Days of Mumsnet, threads in Chat were deleted after a period of (I think) 90 days, so I think most have them have been lost that way. The original thread I linked was moved to Pets topic in order to preserve it.
I do recall that Mortimer was eventually rehomed to a sanctuary to hopefully find a special friend. I think Mortimer also turned out to be female.

1952VincentBlackLightning · 17/03/2023 14:46

Stoechas · 17/03/2023 06:49

Oh a lovely corvid thread! I bloody love corvids, to the point that I am wearing a chough brooch on my dress to my graduation today.

OP I think it’s jackdaws and crows as other pps have said. The jackdaw does have a very distinctive eye and call so that helps with identification.

Lots of good corvid identification videos on you tube.

Interesting that ravens are predominantly rural. The only one I have seen one (outside the Tower) in the wild was in Edinburgh city centre. And then for ages I didn’t see it, I could hear it. My mother thought I had gone quite mad as I walked around in circles peering heavenward muttering “there’s a raven here somewhere”. I was right too. Big beautiful bugger it was.

Ooh your brooch sounds lovely (and congratulations on your graduation!) - a fellow corvid obsessive

SinnerBoy · 17/03/2023 14:50

BoreOfWhabylon · Today 14:36

Oh thanks for that! I had envisaged an untimely end and was getting a bit misty eyed, big wuss that I am. I hate tragic animal and children stories...

SinnerBoy · 17/03/2023 14:52

1952VincentBlackLightning

Well, haven't you just got the best username! I was offered one in the late 90s, "Mostly complete, in two tea chests," for £7,000, when reasonable runners were £15 - 20k. Fool that I am, I declines.

BoreOfWhabylon · 17/03/2023 14:53

No, we did get updates for quite some time until the poster got herself banned from MN Grin
Hopefully Morimer is living her best life somewhere still - ravens live for about 30 years iirc

SinnerBoy · 17/03/2023 14:57

I only have this workhorse now - 1955

www.flickr.com/photos/48541674@N00/493846380/in/dateposted/

I had to sell this - 1971

www.flickr.com/photos/48541674@N00/272284210/in/dateposted/

1952VincentBlackLightning · 17/03/2023 18:01

SinnerBoy · 17/03/2023 14:57

@SinnerBoy what magnificent beasts, and a shame you missed such a golden opportunity. I have to confess I don't know much about bikes, but I'm a huge fan of Richard Thompson

1952VincentBlackLightning · 17/03/2023 18:03

I don't know what happened to the rest of my previous post so I'll repeat it here - @SinnerBoy your bikes are magnificent and a shame you missed such a grand opportunity. I don't know much about bikes at all but I do love Richard Thompson

1952VincentBlackLightning · 17/03/2023 18:26

I live in what appears to be corvid central, but the only time I'm confident that I've seen ravens (outside the Tower) is on the south Wales coastal path. Also a great spot for choughs - I love these two watching the skies.

A question about Corvids
ProperVexed · 17/03/2023 19:26

@loafintheoven Why thank you! I can feel a name change coming on......

FluffyTrousers · 17/03/2023 19:27

New user name!
What a great thread about something as simple as forbids.

PhotoDad · 17/03/2023 19:53

For all her teen years, my DD was really into wildlife photography (hence my username!) I've looked through her files and found a crow in mid hop, and a beautiful jackdaw.

A question about Corvids
A question about Corvids
BoreOfWhabylon · 17/03/2023 20:01

FluffyTrousers · 17/03/2023 19:27

New user name!
What a great thread about something as simple as forbids.

Speak not of forbids!
It is forbidden.

Ihaventgottimeforthis · 17/03/2023 20:55

1952VincentBlackLightning · 17/03/2023 18:26

I live in what appears to be corvid central, but the only time I'm confident that I've seen ravens (outside the Tower) is on the south Wales coastal path. Also a great spot for choughs - I love these two watching the skies.

Amazing picture!

Ihaventgottimeforthis · 17/03/2023 20:56

PhotoDad · 17/03/2023 19:53

For all her teen years, my DD was really into wildlife photography (hence my username!) I've looked through her files and found a crow in mid hop, and a beautiful jackdaw.

Love the mid hop.
When you need you just get over there but can't be arsed to fly.

SinnerBoy · 17/03/2023 21:47

1952VincentBlackLightning · Today 18:01

Ah, I know the song. Nice photos, by the way.

SinnerBoy · 17/03/2023 23:18

Not crows, but:

Sorry, puffins are just beyond cute:

www.flickr.com/photos/48541674@N00/5876194383/in/dateposted/

And this one lived on our back deck for days, in Australia:

www.flickr.com/photos/48541674@N00/3008672376/in/dateposted/

This one was off Egypt, after a storm:

www.flickr.com/photos/48541674@N00/27717171296/in/dateposted/

SinnerBoy · 17/03/2023 23:21

A Scops Owl, off Angola:

www.flickr.com/photos/48541674@N00/52397255600/in/dateposted/

The skipper found a bird sanctuary in South Africa, which told us to feed it chicken, it survived for weeks, then did off, when land was in sight.

SqueakyDinosaur · 17/03/2023 23:24

That owl looks mighty pissed off. Ungrateful wretch!

SinnerBoy · 18/03/2023 05:44

That was the first day, before we started feeding it.

PhotoDad · 18/03/2023 05:50

Some lovely photos, @SinnerBoy! Wildlife photography was an amazing hobby for a teen, by the way. Got to spend some wonderful time together on short trips to different parts of the country, walking and talking. She considered it as a degree/career but it's really hard to make a living from it, so it remains a hobby.

Here are just a couple of puffin pics (promise I won't share all 500+ pics in her 'best of' folder...)

A question about Corvids
A question about Corvids
Billybagpuss · 18/03/2023 07:30

Ooh if we’re sharing puffin pics too have some of mine (well DH but I was there)

A question about Corvids
A question about Corvids
A question about Corvids