But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore—
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking “Nevermore.”
Even those with only a passing affinity for poetry—or, perhaps, no affinity at all—likely have some acquaintance with The Raven. In the famous narrative poem, Edgar Allen Poe describes the “ebony bird,” with “fiery eyes” that visits a man who has descended into madness following the loss of his love, Lenore. You may not know much about the poem but, even knowing nothing, you can feel confident The Raven isn’t a bright and cheery poem. Ravens have long been associated with the macabre—the grim, ghastly, ominous—and places far away like London where, famously, they reside at the Tower of London. Legend has it that King Charles II (1660-1685) decreed that at least six ravens should always be kept at the Tower. If the ravens left the Tower, it was believed a great disaster would befall the kingdom.
Like their ebony feathered cohorts, crows also evoke visions of foreboding. That a group of crows is called a murder probably doesn’t help their ominous reputation (a group of ravens is called an unkindness or a conspiracy). A film director need only have a crow (or raven) alight in a scene and we immediately feel trouble is brewing.
Given their notorious dark aura, it can be quite the juxtaposition to see a crow or raven flying overhead against a brilliant blue Texas sky, soaring over swaths of colorful wildflowers, not a 900-year old fortress or grey and gloomy vista to be found. While ravens and crows may not jump to mind as Texas birds they are, indeed, native to the Lone Star State.
Ravens and crows found in Texas
Ravens and crows are part of the large family of birds known as corvids that also includes jays, magpies, rooks, and more (but does not include grackles, although they may look similar). Texas is home to two species of ravens and three species of crows. From the Texas Bird Breeding Atlas:
“In Texas, Chihuahuan Ravens generally inhabit the more arid areas of the state, while American Crows favor the moister northeast, Common Ravens are usually found at higher elevations in the west, Tamaulipas Crow (Corvus imparatus) is an inhabitant of the south and Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus) is found primarily along the coast and up major rivers in the northeast…”
Chihuahua Ravens are year-round residents of Texas that breed between mid-February to later August; fellow state residents the Common Ravens breed from mid-April to late June. American Crows and Fish Crows are also permanent residents that breed from early February to June and March to June, respectively. According to Texas Bird Breeding Atlas, we “know little” about the Tamaulipas Crow which was first discovered in extreme south Texas in 1968 and is present primarily in winter.
How to tell the difference between ravens and crows
While each species has its own particularities, there are some general ways to tell the difference between crows and ravens. Here is a summary of helpful visual identification tips from Audubon:
- “Ravens are larger, the size of a Red-tailed Hawk. Ravens often travel in pairs, while crows are seen in larger groups.”
- “Watch the bird’s tail as it flies overhead. The crow’s tail feathers are basically the same length, so when the bird spreads its tail, it opens like a fan. Ravens, however, have longer middle feathers in their tails, so their tail appears wedge-shaped when open.”
- “A raven’s strut is often punctuated by a few two-footed hops.”
- “Ravens ride the thermals and soar, whereas crows do more flapping.”
- “Ravens have bigger, curvier beaks relative to crows. While both species have bristles at the base of the beak, the raven’s are noticeably longer. Its throat feathers are also quite shaggy.”
But perhaps the biggest distinguishing traits, particularly while flying overhead, are audible: “Crows caw and purr, ravens croak and scream bloody murder.” Sound clips of the American Crow and the Common Raven are available on “How to Tell a Raven From a Crow.”
Ravens and crows are smart
Ravens are smart—really smart. In a study of ravens published in 2017, researchers found that the birds “performed at least as well as apes and small children” in complex cognitive tasks. One of their study achievements demonstrated ability to plan ahead. In this experiment, as explained by National Geographic:
“The researchers taught the ravens that if the birds place a special tool in a tube sticking out of a box, it will release their favorite piece of food—one whole piece of dog kibble. Then, the scientists took the box and the tool away. An hour later, the team offered the ravens a choice of objects—one being that special tool. Fifteen minutes later, the ravens got the box back…About 80 percent of the time, the ravens selected the correct tool and performed the task to get their treat. The team repeated the same experiment with a 17-hour delay in returning the box to the ravens. In this case, the birds were successful nearly 90 percent of the time.”
Crows, similarly, are no slouches in the brain department. As described by Mental Floss, the following behavior in crows in Japan has also been observed in American Crows in California:
“In Japan, carrion crows (Corvus corone) use cars like oversized nutcrackers. The birds have learned to take walnuts—a favorite treat—over to road intersections, where they put the hard-shelled snacks down onto the pavement. The crow then waits for a passing vehicle to smash the nut, after which it will swoop down and eat the delicious interior.
“It’s a risky trick, but the crows aren’t usually run over because (unlike some people) they’ve figured out what traffic lights mean. Carrion crows wait until the light turns red before flying down to place the un-cracked nut on the road. The second the light goes green, the crow takes off to watch the nut get run over from afar; it will even wait for the next red to scoop up the nut’s insides.”
In addition to knowing how to use tools (including cars), these birds know how to make tools. A study of wild crows in 2015 captured video showing the birds creating tools to reach food. From the study: “First, the bird snapped off the twig just above and below a branching node; it then stripped the bark and leaves from the longer, thinner branch and worked on the node to craft a hook.” The tool was used to probe crevices, under bark, in deadwood and leaf litter. Further, the video shows a crow dropping the tool on the ground and then recovering it, indicating they’re not single-use tools.
Crows and ravens can talk
Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
Both crows and ravens can mimic human speech. The basics of how they do it as described by World Bird Sanctuary:
“There is a popular myth that in order to get a crow to learn to talk, you first have to split its tongue. There are two things wrong with this myth: 1) it’s cruel, and 2) it’s just that – a myth. Birds that talk don’t do so in the same way we do. Humans use their lips, tongue, and teeth to help form sound, and in case you haven’t noticed, birds don’t have lips or teeth. They do have beaks and tongues, but neither of these are used by a bird to produce sound. Birds use their syrinx to produce sound. The syrinx is the avian version of our larynx, or voicebox. All of those fantastically different sounds that birds make are produced by varying the amount and velocity of air moving across the syrinx.”
There are countless videos online showing crows and ravens talking. Although it could be the man’s delusion in Poe’s poem, it’s not impossible what the raven famously says. Most talking birds stay within the “hello” and “hi” zone but there is at least one video, posted over a decade ago, in which you can hear a raven quoth “nevermore.”
The next time a black bird flies above you in Texas, soaring above bluebonnets and prickly pears not a foreboding tower in sight, know that it might be a crow or a raven. Look at its tail, look at its beak, or maybe just listen closely for a “nevermore, y’all.”
Additional resources
There is so much fascinating information about ravens and crows, much more than what can be contained in a blog of reasonable length. For those interested in learning more, here are a couple of additional resources:
12 Fascinating Facts About Crows
10 Ravishing Facts About Ravens
Photo by Mark Timberlake on Unsplash
