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 😊
also please don't ask me to identify birds that aren't corvids, I can do the obvious ones but sometimes people think I know ALL birds and while I am a Bird Respecter I am mostly knowledgeable about UK corvids
yet another addendum: my very silly guide for differentiating crows and ravens falls apart entirely in Australia, where crows and ravens are very similar sizes and usually ravens (but called crows anyway, I guess because this is a country that calls a non-corvid a magpie and words don't mean anything)
(this is a joke, before anyone gets pedantic)
thank you to the helpful Australians for educating me!
here is a raven seen pretty up close at the Tower of London! majestic and entirely unimpressed by tourists. a crow would be maybe two-thirds the height at most, and half the weight.
ETA: if you don’t know anything about the Tower of London ravens I suggest giving this a read https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/whats-on/the-ravens/
Joe (TBA)@astronomerritt wow, they let you get close.
@RegGuy The Tower of London ravens see a LOT of humans, they are pretty much tame but only the Ravenmaster is allowed to interact with them, as they are not afraid to bite if tourists get over-familiar.
The reasons why some ravens have been “fired” from their post are hilarious.
@astronomerritt I only have passing knowledge about these ravens. There is so much to learn about in the world. Even at nearly 70 and being forever curious, I still did not know about what you sent me. Fascinating.
@RegGuy I hope this doesn’t offend you, as I mean it as a high compliment, but you really do remind me of my dad sometimes: he’s very similar in his attitude to the world and learning new things.
@astronomerritt OMG, highest compliment to be compared to one's dad. Thank you!
He and I are probably about the same age. At least the same generation.
@RegGuy He's 67, so very close. Though he insists he's "sixty-seventeen".
CCochard@astronomerritt @RegGuy don't mean to interfer but as a french person, I would like to point out that sixty-seventeen is 77.
@astronomerritt @RegGuy and to stay on topic, we have beautiful European jays visiting our garden
@CCochard @astronomerritt Are european jays Corvids?
@astronomerritt @CCochard It's hard to know because old naming conventions often conflated looks with genus. Like the American Robin and the European Robin. They hardly look alike, but they both have red breast coloring.
@RegGuy Oh yeah. That's why we have the Australian Magpie.