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Common Raven

Corvus corax

Least Concern (IUCN Red List)Crows, Jays, and Magpies
Common Raven, photographed by Frank Schulenburg

Photo: Frank Schulenburg · Wikimedia · CC-BY-SA 4.0 (licence)

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Call and song

About the Common Raven

Large, glossy-black bird with a wedge-shaped tail. Larger than a crow with a longer, thicker bill. Distinctive shape in flight, with rather long, swept-back wings and long tail. Note smoother, steadier wingbeats compared with faster, choppier wingbeats of crows. Extensive range throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Found in a wide variety of habitats, including desert, coniferous forest, coastlines, sagebrush, tundra, and grasslands. Often solitary or in pairs, but can gather in small groups. Typical call is a loud, guttural croak, but makes an astonishing variety of other strange noises. Compare with Chihuahuan Raven in the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, and with various large, all-dark crows and ravens in Europe and Asia.

Species account: eBird.org, fetched 2025-12-26 · How these pages are made

Where it has been recorded

Recorded in 89 of the 253 countries we have eBird lists for. Each opens that country's checklist.

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