A black crow flies over - but is it a Crow, a Rook or even a Raven? Let this video help you to separate these confusing species, along with their smaller cousins: Jackdaw and Chough
Thanks! I can hear Crows, Rooks, Jackdaws and Ravens in my garden and tell the difference between each one. When the ravens fly over the sound from their wing beat is very audible.
Phil Curran don't think there's much truth to the saying as I regularly see rooks alone or in pairs. But they are more likely to be seen in groups often with jackdaw
Fascinating...so all those young rooks are actually jackdaws... I feed them fairly regularly various fruits and nuts...there are big trees they nest in out back...
Jackdaws are commonest round here and easy to identify - especially when they fall down your chimney and appear in the living room! Ask me how I know, haha! I forgave them of course, and their squabbling chatter is lovely to hear!
My best friend at school, in the 1970’s, took me to her grandmothers to meet the Jackdaw that her grandmother had hand raised. Then released outside. He never _really_ left though. Obviously he was called Jack. Grandmother had a barn style split back door that led into her kitchen, so Jack would sit on the top of the door looking into the kitchen and we found that very funny. Jackdaw Jack on a door! But his biggest party piece was he talked. Just like a parrot he said sentences. Really made me appreciate how handsome and how clever the corvids are.
superb, now i can show my mum what an idiot she was for contesting the rook that was in my garden which she called a crow. actually maybe it was a raven. oh dear maybe i am the idiot. please don't let my mum watch this.
A friend took a photo of black birds in the snow, not knowing what they are, we google it and now we are watching this video. Learning something new is a good thing aye?
I have definitely seen Carrion crows and jackdaws playfully tumbling, especially the former. I see crows every day swooping around the updrafts from tall buildings. I've seen other acrobatics too, I don't know how much the other corvids indulge in this.
No, it's because the narrator carelessly speaks over the sounds of all birds she's announcing except the crow. The raven segment is really frustrating, I almost disliked the video but it's corvids, I really like them, so I ended up liking and saving it.
Thank you. I come from North America and was not accustomed to seeing rooks, which are heavy about the area of Ireland I am now living in. I noticed their grey, knife-like beaks and suspected that they were rooks and not crows (which are neater and as stated here have black, narrower bills), but it is good to be able to check and know what else to look and listen for.
I'm also happy to learn that the lighter-necked birds I often see are jackdaws. They remind me of some kinds of American blackbirds, the red-winged blackbird having been common in the area I grew up and I suspect a bit similar in stature.
I'm glad I gound this video. We have several of these species closeby, and it was hard to work out which was which. And one is causing a lot of racket outside the flat. Jackdaws. You don't need to see them to identify them.
The Carrion Crow closely resembles the American Crow, judging by its appearance. Now, I've never seen a Carrion Crow, but I'm very familiar of an American Crow.
+David Colantuono They are very similar - although they are different species. Definitely a case of two species filling the same ecological niche and looking very, very similar! Not sure how you would tell the two apart, either, if they did ever meet!
We have a massive amount of rook nests at the end of our road (I'm in West Central Scotland) and they are pretty big. They spread out and you never see just one lol
A great video which was well presented and informative. Thankyou... When you think of the name Jackdaw ,Raven or Rook, the stigma attached to their relative, the crow doesn't spring to mind. I think the Crow is a handsome bird as well as being one of the smartest birds out there. Strange what the colour black does to the human psyche😢
Thanks for this. I sometimes struggle to separate the crows from the rooks though the jackdaws & choughs are easier. I now live in Cornwall where corvids of all types are very common compared to Kent where I grew up. I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that I see more corvids than gulls here.
So initially I thought it was a jackdaw. I know nothing about birds but I see it was a hooded Crow that I have befriended and now I am feeding😂😮❤❤🕊🦅🦆 outside my backdoor in Dublin Ireland all day I see him and I feed him now that it has become warmer❤
I was just intrested to see what said on here and watched the video... You stated that rooks won't feed with crows... I'm a bus driver, and I have a point where I stop very regularly for 10 - 20 mins lay over, so I always bring nuts to feed the birds... The second I get off the bus I always have my same two crows instantly come to me, after a few more mins there will be a gang of rooks but my two Crow friends have no problem with staying and eating the nuts?
If you listen carefully starting at 2:53 she says that fledgling rooks can look very similar to crows but the give away is that the adult rook wouldn't be feeding a crow. Not that crows and rooks won't feed near each other.
Very very interesting. Thank you. In April I was alerted to two magpies in a state of alarm on a nearby roof. A huge all black bird was waddling around the roof gutter. Eventually it flew off, mobbed and dive bombed by the magpies. It was noticeably bigger than the magpies. This was a short distance from Derby city centre. You wouldn't get ravens here would you?
Hi Lynn. Ravens are fairly common in Derbyshire but I suspect you are right that it would be unusual to see one close to Derby city centre. Carrion Crows are quite a bit bigger than Magpies (particularly if you just focus on the head and body, rather than including the tail). For a definitive answer about the likelihood of it being a Raven, you could contact the Derbyshire Ornithological Society: www.derbyshireos.org.uk/cgifeedback.php Nick BTO Training Manager
What are the ones that are big(usually 2 together in my yard each morning. They're so black i see a beautiful blue sheen of color! What kind of bird is this? Im in NC
+Theresa Thompson NC - In the USA? If so, there are several options: American Crow or Fish Crow most likely neither of which are covered here - we are a UK-based charity...
I think (although I'm no expert, so don't quote me) that you're far enough south that you would get western ravens. The plumage is shiny, too, so that might be the bird. This article would seem to suggest that you're a little far east for them, but you never know: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_raven American crows in the northeast are pretty large and slightly shiny, but they are just crows, not ravens.
"the tail is graduated" - what does that mean? With such similar species it might be helpful to compare species directly e.g. a static comparison of the crows in flight. These guides are so useful for beginners but I wonder if they are tested on target audiences before being posted.
_"These guides are so useful for beginners but..."_ Surely beginners would be even more confused by verbal descriptions like, _"the tail is graduated"_ Colin? It would have helped beginners a lot more, if she'd said; _"the tail is diamond rather than wedge shaped"._
Exellent video. O have two hooded Crows (An old pair) that i have knoen and studied in soon 6 years. And i live them! They come When i call..and i When they call! Haha, we own each other! They are so indcredibly intelligent. But i have too move in 1 Mont so i have to say my goodbye ;(
Useful video, but in Czech Republic we usually call everything as crow, especially rooks :( Ravens are rare, bigger, lonely and known for eating carcass ... Crows are likely always grey here, they stay all year and they are not rare and not plentiful either. They are mostly on fields and city parks. Rooks are very plentiful in winter (late October to early March) and they form very large flocks in mornings and evenings and migrate twice a day to and from some resting places (with perhaps hundred of them on a single tree). They are not present in summer. Jackdaws are in small flocks (5-30 pieces) and they make different sounds. They are mostly in city parks and they seem to join rooks in winter. Im not sure if day have daily migration cycles such as rooks.
I wish they had given more details about the hooded crows too instead of just a mere mention. Hooded crows and jackdaws are very numerous in my town. Ravens are a bit more rare, I sometimes see a couple of them in the countryside, they're the most beautiful and fascinating. They're monogamous and I love to see them flying very close in the sky as if they were dancing, plus their cry is more gentle and relaxing than it seems, certainly far less noisy and chaotic than hooded crows's calls.
Hi Andi. Magpies (and Jays) are also members of the corvid family. However, this video focusses on the ones with all or predominantly black plumage that can be hard to tell apart. As Magpies have extensive areas of white in their plumage and a characteristic long tail, they were left out so as to devote more time to the typical confusion species.
Thanks, I now know the corvids around my flat that I want to befriend so they bring me shiny things and eventually raid jewellers for me are jackdaws, cool. 😁
