Beyond Your Backyard 🌿 "Crows Versus Ravens"

By Kimberly J. Epp

Corvids are a group of birds that include crows and ravens, but people often confuse the two species.

The American Crow, or Common Crow is a large, chunky ebony bird. It is completely black, but glossed with purple in the sunlight. The Common Raven is larger and has a wedge-shaped tail. While crows are gregarious, ravens are often solitary. Although ravens are much larger than crows, it is difficult to tell from a distance. It is easy to tell the difference during flight, because crows' tails are rounded off, while the raven's are wedged. The raven's bill is heavier and curved strongly downward. The raven also has long, pointed throat feathers that look like a rough beard, while the crow's throat is smooth. A raven has 17 primary feathers, while a crow has 16. They are also called pinion feathers. Although this is a small difference, it is only a matter of a pinion.

A raven sitting amidst a snowstorm (photo by Reeta Garber).

Crows are one of the smartest birds in the world, with an intelligence level that equates a 7 year old child. They make and use tools, recognize faces, hold memorials for fallen comrades, have a long term memory and understand anology. Crows share an interest in one another's welfare. When a flock is feeding, one crow keeps watch and makes a warning call if danger approaches. A call may require others crows to assist in the mobbing of an owl, hawk or other predator. Researchers have determined that crows have a vocabulary of twenty-three different sounds, but they also have the added ability of being able to imitate human words and laughter.

My visiting crow, Murdering Mary-Ann'tonniette, really loves peanuts...and washing dead birds, pizza, fries and chicken wings (basically any food she can find) in my bird bath (photo by Kimberly Epp). In this photo you can notice the purple shimmer in the feathers.

Ravens stay in the province year round, while crows migrate. The crows should, in fact, already be back. The first Canada Geese seen returning is a sign of Spring for many, but hearing the "caw, caw" from the first crow is always special to me, too. Did you know that a flock of crows is called a "murder", while a flock of ravens is referred to as an "unknindness" or "conspiracy"? One must wonder how these descriptions came to be, however ravens are traditionally seen as creepy, while crows are seen as bad omens. It is commonly known that if you are unkind to crows, they will hold grudges. If you are kind to them, they have been known to bring gifts such as shiny stones. They remember faces, and these grudges or friendships are sometimes passed down a generation.

An "unkindness" or "conspiracy" of ravens eating some scraps of food (photo by Reeta Garber).

Canuck the crow became Vancouver's most famous crow, and is now a federally protected bird. In fact, he is the first crow to have this protection status. Sadly, Canuck went missing last year, so if you see a crow with a band on its leg, please contact the Canadian Wildlife Service. Canuck was the unofficial goodwill ambassador for crows in Vancouver. But we have a couple of fairly new local celebrities right here in Saskatchewan. Crows are commonly brought in to wildlife rehabilitation centers, and Jan Shadick of Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation in Saskatoon received two crows that were too injured to be released back to the wild.

Murdering Mary-Ann'tonniette eyes up one of the fox squirrels in my yard. Both allowed me to sit there within 5 feet of them, and especially if I had treats (photo by Kimberly Epp).

Jan has a big heart, and saw potential in these birds, so instead of euthanizing these beautiful and intelligent beings, she decided they would become new ambassadors. To hear about their full story, you will have to wait for the next issue of Nature Saskatchewan's Blue Jay, where I will interview their current caretaker Tammy Klaassen. The birds have already been taken to schools and wildlife education shows, and every day Tammy sees their true personalities come out. She has even noticed them mimicking some of the words her children say, and they love to play hide and seek within their blankets.

Edgar, one of the new ambassador crows (photo by Tammy Klaassen). You can see how his upper beak is now deformed, yet he looks quite stoic.

"Without our corvids, our ecosystem would be much different. If only we could be a steward of the land the way they are." - Tammy Klaassen

The two crows are named Edgar and Loki. Edgar had a run in with a mower, so he would not have been able to find food if left in the wild. The beak is the most valuable tool. Tammy said the following with regard to the two species; "One thing I noticed is that crows are our perpetual teenagers. Hold my beer kind of thing. Ravens are so much more refined in behaviour. But look either in the eye and see your soul."

Tammy's son with Loki at a recent "Kids gone wild for wildlife" event in Saskatoon. These two seem to have a very close bond (photo by Tammy Klaassen).

At the Medicine River Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, a friend of mine commonly volunteered caring for the ravens. In fact, she now has two non-releasable ravens living in an enclosure at her Calgary home. Wild ravens seemed to understand that this was a place for help, and communicated with the ravens inside the enclosures at the rehab center. One day, a juvenile raven landed on a post near where another employee was working. She noticed that its face and bill had several porcupine quills protruding. The young raven knew that he could get help from her, and allowed her to pull out the quills. After that, he could often be seen near the cages. The ravens within would give him food. Stories like this show us just how little we know about the world around us, and instead of destroying species we do not understand, why don't we just try to co-exist, because every single species plays an integral part in the ecosystem.

Loki likes to "help" Tammy draw. She even takes the pen on her own to imitate what she saw Tammy or her son doing. This intelligence would be fascinating to observe on a daily level (photo by Tammy Klaassen).

In the winter time, you will often see the larger ravens scavenging on the roadkill on the edges of the highway. Ravens love to scavenge, and are like the garbage clean up crew of the animal world. Interestingly, ravens also have a positive relationship with wolves and coyotes. Ravens may follow the hunting canids, hoping for some scraps, while at the same time the canids will locate the carcasses by following the ravens! The ravens actually need the wolves help if the carcass is unopened, as they cannot open the thick hide with their beak alone. So they lead the wolves to the carcass, let them at it, then scavenge at the remains. Sometimes they may even eat right alongside the wolves. Scientists believe that because corvids and wild canids are both family-oriented, highly intelligent, communicative animals, they get along quite well. They understand their roles, and do not prey upon one another. In fact, they have even been documented playing with each other. Play is associated with intelligence in the animal world, and we all know that dogs like to play. But did you know that corvids like to play equally, or even more?

Raven at a grocery store parking lot - keeping an eye out for any fallen groceries. They take their job as garbage men quite seriously (photo by John C. Corden).

Crows have been documented using scraps of sheet metal as sleds sliding down rooftops - over and over again. They love to play in the snow, sometimes even tumbling down hills just as if they were children. They love to swing from branches. Ravens will even play a form of tag with the wolf pups of a pack they have gotten to know over time. The ravens "tag" the pup, jump back a few feet and then flop onto their backs in the snow to let the pup know it is their turn to tag them. Both ravens and crows also love to play practical jokes, and my friend in Calgary and another friend in Saskatoon who has two non-releasable crows can attest to that! And they really love to annoy other animals, and for some reason cats often end up at the wrong "end" of their practical jokes.

This raven knew tasty food was within the coolers, and used its beak to pry them open (photo by Hilda Maier).

My funniest experience watching a corvid play was at the Saskatoon Zoo. A magpie, also a corvid, decided she wanted to gave some fun with the zoo cat. The zoo cat was sleeping peacefully in the sun, as most cats love to do. Target was sighted, and then, "peck"! The magpie gently pecked the cat in the behind. The cat lazily looked up as the magpie jumped back a few steps. I just stood there and watched, as did the magpie. The cat soon fell asleep. He was not going to lose his precious sun nap on anyone, even if it was in the middle of the sidewalk. Maybe 30 seconds went by. The cat was again snoozing successfully. Then, peck! Again, the cat looked up. Again, the magpie jumped back, and yet again the cat fell asleep. The magpie did this a total of 10 times before the cat finally decided sunbeams weren't worth a sore arse. The magpie cackled delightfully. So, why do corvids play practical jokes? The same reason we do. I'm sure they laugh at us all of the time.

A Great Horned Owl being mobbed by crows (photo by Nick Lanfear). Read more about mobbing here; https://www.mjindependent.com/lifestyles/2019/3/20/u3h3muybfemfsejhaokjaisan6t4vj

I urge you to take a second look when you see the first crow of Spring. Observe its behaviour. If it trusts you, maybe you will see it again. Remember that both crows and ravens are important species, and we really would not do well without them.

Stay tuned for next weekend's article about bluebirds and bluebird houses, and if you are interested in helping us clean and replace houses at Buffalo Pound Provincial Park next weekend, contact Rich Pickering at (306) 690-6267 or send a message to the MJNS Facebook page.
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Epp is an Environmental Educator and writer and is also the Past President and Programs/Workshop Director for the Moose Jaw Nature Society. She can be reached at kepp@shaw.ca.