Crows VS Ravens

[spirit wind]

Is there a difference between Crows and Ravens? I live in Australia and i just thought that it was a difference in names only. I certainly prefer Raven to Crow. But now i am not so sure. I think they are beautiful birds and want to learn more about them as they are appearing in my life more and more.

So, where do i look? I have no idea where to start.....

[~*Ginger*~]

hmmm...
not sure myself, though I do believe there is a difference, even if it's in a name...
Is a 'rook' the same as the other's?
:whatgives

[banondraig]

ravens are bigger, (huge!) have a different flight pattern, a narrower tail, and a different call than crows. i'm not sure about rooks.

also not exactly sure what the difference magically would be, except that ravens seem to be more popular with European dieties, and crows with North American dieties, although i could be wrong.

also, ravens mate for life, and are exceptionally devoted to their mates. does anyone know if crows do this?

[spirit wind]

We have 3 species of Ravens here in Australia and 3 different crows as well. I have just found out that ravens have a wedge type tail and crows have a rounded tail feathers. Apparently there isn't much of a difference but from what i can gather the birds i am seeing around where i live are ravens. For the majority anyway. I have some Raven feathers at home that i picked up from my kids school and wanted to make sure i start researching the right bird.

If anyone has anymore info they would like to share i would be muchly appreciated :smile:

[Ivy Artemisia]

I was told that ravens are larger than crows. The raven I saw looked like a crow that was the size of a LARGE cat or small dog. Huge. I was very surprised at how big it was.

[Ivy Artemisia]

Links:

FAQ about Crows and Ravens- http://www.ascaronline.org/crowfaq.html
More on the differences, including tailfeathers- http://www.shades-of-night.com/aviary/difs.html
Interspecies Behavior and more- http://www.angelfire.com/id/ravensknowledge/ravensvscrows.html

A few others...
http://members.tripod.com/~RavenSilverwing/ravecrows.html
http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/crows_ravens.htm

[spirit wind]

Thank you for those links. I must type in the wrong thing i think, i only ever come up with sports teams and research items that are of no help.

[kissesree]

their feet are different, and ravens are BIG. I have a raven as a totem.

[spirit wind]

their feet are different, and ravens are BIG. I have a raven as a totem.
That would be cool! I don't know what my totem animal is, it could be a number of animals i suppose. I have loved Ravens since i was about 10 or so ( i am now 30 ) i find them amazing to watch. And in the last couple of months they have been showing themselves in my life, flying above my car, sitting on my parked car, flying in front of my car/me when walking etc. They seem to be everywhere i go, whereas i never really noticed them much around the area where i live. I am starting to think they are trying to tell me something, but then again it could just be an overactive imagination.

[RubyRose]

We have 3 species of Ravens here in Australia and 3 different crows as well. I have just found out that ravens have a wedge type tail and crows have a rounded tail feathers. Apparently there isn't much of a difference but from what i can gather the birds i am seeing around where i live are ravens. For the majority anyway. I have some Raven feathers at home that i picked up from my kids school and wanted to make sure i start researching the right bird.

If anyone has anymore info they would like to share i would be muchly appreciated :smile:

We have Ravens in Australia ... I never would have known, I always thought we only had crows as that's all I've spotted crossing my path.

[spirit wind]

We have Ravens in Australia ... I never would have known, I always thought we only had crows as that's all I've spotted crossing my path.
so did i! But after a bit of research i found that we do have a few different spieces. And if you sit and watch them for a while you can actually tell what they are. I just think they are the most amazing birds!

[Grey]

Alright, lets start out here-

Ravens are like crows, but bigger, prettier, and they fly differrant. They also have entirely differrant meanings in almost every mythos out there.

The specific differrances change from place to place but generally speaking, crows are associated with darker, even outright evil, entities... ranging from morrigan to the devil. Ravens however are more like the wise protector, for instance in most Nat Indian myths, and the Norse Hunnin and Munnin.

Ravens also have alot of significance to the druidic orders... browse their forum for some really good articles/posts.

[Rhaevyn]

Just a stupid sort of off-the-topic fact: the birds (the majority, if not all of them) they used in the movie The Crow were actually ravens. That just always amused me.

[Élistariel]

Crow and Raven

[Theres]

ravens have a noticably larger skull which raises up after the eyes. crow's heads have a smaller, much more strreamlined look.

usually when i can't tell if it's a crow or a raven, it's a crow. when i see a raven it's quite a bit larger and i know right away.

[ealawyn]

Where I live, all we have are ravens. We have no crows. All I really know is that Ravens are huge and they like to rub greese on their feathers.
Here's something:
http://www.gov.yk.ca/yukonglance/bird.html