Australian Raven - BirdForum Opus

Nominate subspecies
Photo © by sar NOP
Manly, New South Wales, Australia, 22 December 2006

Corvus coronoides

Identification

Juvenile
Photo © by fthsm
Sydney, Australia, 21 July 2008

Length 48–54 cm (19-21¼ in)

• Black with blue and purple gloss
• Black bill and legs
• White iris.
• Strongly elongated throat feathers forming obvious hackles.

Juveniles: have dark eyes.

Similar species

The shaggy neck feathers or throat hackles form a distinct bulge which helps distinguish this species from the similar Little Raven, Forest Raven and Torresian Crow. Note also the long wings and tail of this species. A good way to separate them is by voice.

Distribution

Australia: in eastern and central Australia found almost everywhere except Cape York Peninsula and Tasmania, but west of central South Australia only found in a coastal strip and in less dry corner of Western Australia called the South-West.

Taxonomy

Little Raven was formerly thought to be a subspecies of this species.

Subspecies

This is a polytypic consisting of two subspecies¹:

• C. c. coronoides: Larger with longer throat hackles

• East Australia (Gulf of Carpenteria to central Australia and southern Victoria)

• C. c. perplexus: Smaller with shorter throat hackles

• South-western Western Australia to far southwest South Australia

Habitat

All habitats. This species has adapted well to civilization and has expanded its range into urban settlements in recent years.

Behaviour

Diet

They are omnivorous, feeding on items ranging from seeds and fruit to carrion and reptiles.

Breeding

They nest at the top of tall trees; the nest is a bowl or platform of sticks lined with grasses, barks, and feathers. Three to six greenish eggs with olive, brown and blackish markings eggs are laid. The female incubates them for about 20 days. The young fledge after 45 days.

Vocalisation

A series of high-pitched, slow and wailing caws with throat hackles raised prominently.

Movements

Mostly sedentary

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Pizzey, G and F Knight. 1997. Field Guide to Birds of Australia. London: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 978-0207196911
3. Wikipedia contributors. (2019, October 26). Australian raven. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 09:02, December 26, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Australian_raven&oldid=923128107
4. Debus, S. (2019). Australian Raven (Corvus coronoides). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/60799 on 25 December 2019).
5. Jønsson, K.A., Fabre, P.H. & Irestedt, M. (2012) Brains, tools, innovation and biogeography in crows and ravens. BMC Evol. Biol. 12: 72. doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-12-72.
6. Madge, S. & Burn, H. (1994) Crows and Jays: A Guide to the Crows, Jays and Magpies of the World. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
7. Sibley, C. & Ahlquist, J. (1991): Phylogeny and Classification of Birds: A Study in Molecular Evolution. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut.
8. Arthur Grosset's Birds

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Australian Raven. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Australian_Raven

External Links

Search for photos of Australian Raven in the gallery

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1