American Crows vs Common Ravens Quiz

Answer: American crow

The American crow has very smooth black feathers on its head, neck, and throat. The common raven has fluffier feathers on its head, and especially on its neck and throat. Both birds have short bristly feathers at the base of the beak, but the common raven's bristles are much longer.

Answer: Common raven

Common ravens are the larger of these two birds. They grow to about the size of a red-tailed hawk. Common ravens typically grow to an average of 63 centimetres (25 inches) in length and 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds) in adulthood. Their wingspan ranges from 115 to 150 cm (45 to 59 in). On the other hand, American crows can be compared in size to pigeons. American crow adults grow to an average of 40-50 cm (16-20 in) long from beak to the end of the tail, and weigh from about 300 to 600 g (11 to 21 oz).

The wingspan of adult American crows ranges from 85 to 100 cm (33 to 39 in).

Answer: Common raven

The tail feathers of an American crow are all the same length, so in flight when those feathers spread out, the tail develops into a rounded fan shape. On the other hand, the common raven has longer middle feathers in its tail. This causes the tail to appear wedge-shaped and more pointed when open while in flight.

Answer: American crow

The scientific name for the American crow is taken from both Latin and Ancient Greek. "Corvus" is Latin for "crow" and "brachyrhynchos" is taken from Ancient Greek, with "brachy" meaning "short", and "rhynchos" meaning "billed". The scientific name for the common raven is Corvus corax.

It was originally applied to this bird by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The genus name "Corvus" is common across the two birds, but the species name "corax" is the Latinized version of the Greek word for "crow" or "raven".

Answer: Common raven

The common raven is known for riding thermal air currents and simply gliding around during flight. They look very graceful in the air. On the other hand, American crows need to flap their wings almost constantly while in flight. Watching for a few minutes should tell you which of the birds is flying overhead.

Answer: Common raven

The beaks of both of these birds are black, so at first glance they look very similar. However, the beak of the common raven is larger with an upper beak that is more curved than the beak of the American crow.

Answer: American crow

The American crow has a loud voice that sounds like a "caw-caw-caw". They sometimes have a quieter call that sound sort of like a "prrrrr". On the other hand, the common raven makes a variety of sounds. They gurgle, and have a deep croaking call, almost like a "chuck" sound. Likely due to their larger size, the common raven has a deeper call than the American crow.

Answer: American crow

In the first quarter of the 21st century, population estimates of these birds suggest that the common raven has a global population of over 15 million. It is estimated that the global population of the American crow is is 28 to 30 million. American crows range in many parts of North America, but the common raven lives in most countries in the Northern hemisphere.

Despite the fact that common ravens are found in many more countries than the American crow, American crows likely outnumber common ravens by around 10 to 1 in many regions that they share.

Answer: Common raven

The common raven combines walking and two-footed hopping while on the ground. This seems to occur as a way to move faster across the ground. On the other hand, American crows spend time only walking with no hopping if they wish to move about while they are on the ground.

Answer: Common raven

The American crow has an average lifespan in the wild of 7-8 years. They are also very susceptible to West Nile virus, a disease that is passed from mosquitoes and is deadly for them. On the other hand, the common raven lives for an average 10-15 years in the wild.

In some cases, common ravens that are cared for by humans have lived much longer than their average wild lifespan. For example, common ravens that live in the Tower of London have lived for more than forty years. Common ravens are also able to be infected with West Nile Virus, a deadly disease for all birds.

However, recent studies in California suggest that common ravens do not have a very high positivity rate for the disease.