Steph (crisis version)Loads of rooks out and about today! Haven't seen any hooded crows for a while, though. I hope the rooks aren't displacing them.
I taught my partner how to identify a rook (as opposed to a carrion crow) and now they always call out the "little fluffy rook trousers".
Identifying a raven is dead easy. If you're looking at it and going "ooh, is that a crow or a raven", it's a crow. If instead you're going "christ that bird's fucking enormous" it's a raven.
this thread has been your annual reminder that I am a corvid person
(my favourite is still the Eurasian magpie, they're so clever and so hilariously disrespectful, plus magpie folklore is AWESOME)
okay before anyone else says anything: yes, it is difficult to tell the difference between a crow and a raven if you don't have any indicators as to relative size, then you have to start squinting at the tail shape
but in general if you see a raven up close you KNOW it's a raven because it is LARGE 😊
skribe 🇺🇦 
@astronomerritt not so hard to tell the difference in my home town. All the 'crows' in Perth are Australian ravens.
FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRK!
@skribe Are they as violent as Australian magpies? I know an Australian magpie isn't actually a corvid but I kind of love that Australia has a version of the magpie which is known for being super aggressive.
@astronomerritt no, but they're wickedly smart. We used to set puzzles for the ones at Curtin Uni and they'd pass the knowledge onto their kids once they'd solved them.
Maggies are only aggressive during their breeding season (about now). That said, I haven't been swooped for decades (not since I was a kid).
We were adopted by a family of them in our last place in Oz. We'd feed them and they'd come and sing for us. Gorgeous.